The self extended to stage
SACHIDANANDA HEGDE
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The late Yakshagana doyen Mahabala Hegde was always convincing in his complex portrayal of the evil men of mythology. His perspective cannot be understood without understanding the man himself
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Photo Courtesy: Balasubramanya Bhat
LIFE BREATh Nothing but Yakshagana could engage Mahabala Hegde so completely
It’s a dark and shadowy night. Ashwathama makes his entry as Duryodhana lay powerless on the battlefield with his thighs smashed. The cacophony of dogs, heaps of dead bodies and the gruesome sight of the raging Ashwathama mercilessly dragging Drushtadyumna by the rope that is wound around his neck. Fury and wrath spitting from his bloodshot eyes over the bilk of a Kaurava who killed his Guru Dronacharya. Ashwathama, determined to avenge the death of his father, squashes Drushtadyumna under his feet as he tightens the noose around his neck. The blood curdling scene sends shivers down the spine of the viewer.
A dog makes greedy advances to take a mouthful from Duryodhana’s thighs, what with his flesh hanging loose. A shattered Duryodhana struggles as he picks a stone from his left hand and attempts to shoo away the dog. Seeing this, Ashwathama quavers in frenzy and swears to wipe out the five Pandavas. ‘I will string their severed heads together and place it before you, O Kaurava!’ he ferociously pledges. Mahabala Hegde’s performance as Ashwathama sends a chill down to the last bone.
As the arbitrator Kaurava – unlike the obdurate Duryodhana who challenged Krishna and prepared himself for the Kurukshetra war (as portrayed by Shivarama Hegde and Sadananda Hegde) — Mahabala Hegde portrayed him as someone torn asunder by his inner turmoil. He becomes a representative of the dilemmas of humankind itself — as a man who fails to bridge the dichotomy between a throbbing consciousnesses and failed action. Mahabala Hegde, even as he took the linear narrative of the story forward, played Duryodhana with a deep awareness of the conflicts within. Even when he heartlessly screamed that Hastinapura should become the site of wailing widows, and that soldiers who are pillars of strength must crumble and perish on the soil of the capital, the character of Duryodhana transcended the plot and its effect, gradually enveloping both intellect and emotion.
Try looking for the Kichaka as represented by tradition – loathsome and lustful — you cannot find him in Mahabala Hegde’s portrayal. In complete self-possession, not even for a moment causing discomfort to the audience, he builds Kichaka in high dignity. This was true even of the Vishwamitra-Menaka episode. “Pushing away Menaka angrily, rejecting the child, and Menaka coldly walking away saying her task is fulfilled, is the mode everyone adopts,” Mahabala Hegde had often explained. “But that is not how I see it.” The way Vishwamitra handled his relationship with Menaka was poignant. They discussed their contexts bound in limitations and exit from each other’s lives sadly, but elevated.
As Bhishma in “Bhishma Vijaya”, Mahabala Hegde’s gait, the dignity in his bearing, painted such a grand picture of the magnificent and magnanimous mythological figure. So it was in “Bhishma Parva”, and also as the enchanted Sudhanwa on beholding god himself… what was even more enrapturing was his resonating voice.
Ashwathama, Bhishma, Duryodhana, Kichaka, Vishwamitra are all characters that stand on the other side of truth. But Mahabala Hegde never stripped them of their complexities to leave them to their evil selves. A serious student of Yakshagana has always wondered what made Mahabala Hegde’s perspective so different. How did he read his texts?
Ashwathama had a very poor childhood. Drona didn’t have even an ounce of milk to feed his son. There were times when Drona is said to have mixed rice flour into water as substitute for milk. Did Mahabala Hegde’s paltry circumstances help him get under the skin of Ashwathama?
Taking an up close look at Mahabala Hegde’s life, he was a strict disciplinarian and a man of fiery temper. He was incapable of any falsehood, did not take to any vices and lived in complete disregard of a normal, householder’s life. He never hesitated to criticise a fault, neither did he fear a fight. He did this in his straightforward ways, shorn of sophistication.
At the same time he was deeply emotional and devout in a very spiritual sense. Was that why he could so sharply catch the many resonances embedded in the characters of Ashwathama, Bhishma and Vishwamitra? He trembled with rage when he played Duryodhana, but when he stood before Krishna in total submission it didn’t seem contradictory to the true nature of the Kaurava. One saw both these streaks of character in Mahabala Hegde as well. It is no surprise then this Duryodhana was Mahabala Hegde’s own Duryodhana.
For someone who is given to rage and fury, emotional portrayals come hard — so goes the common perception. But Mahabala Hegde was capable of sustaining an emotive scene in a manner that was more adept than people who considered it their forte. What others did for hours, Mahabala Hegde could achieve in a few intense moments. He could never portray Bhasmasura or Kichaka as evil monsters. One can attribute this to the limitation of his personality as well as his superior understanding of human nature. Hence, one doesn’t find much difference in the way he builds his characters and his true nature. It’s a definite expression of the self.
Mahabala Hegde’s voice and body were equally fascinating. He didn’t have bright, shining eyes. But the overall structure of his body was charming and held his personality well. In him, there was no space for sarcasm — neither in word nor action. In fact, it was always felt that the lack of a glow in his eyes was made up by his brilliant voice.
In the entire Yakshagana tradition, one can perhaps say that no other artiste had a voice to match his. It could move you in its devotion; it could scare you in its fierceness.
This legendary Mahabala was a naughty little child till Yakshagana took over his mind and body. “I’m like my own self, and like none other,” he had playfully remarked as a child. But that was like a prophecy. He did what he believed. If he feared someone, it was his uncle Shivaram Hegde and the writer Shivaram Karanth.
Till his last moments, Mahabala Hegde was studying Yakshagana. And hence, his thoughts, his ideas everything continues to haunt the present. It is only in body, that he exits.
(Translated by Deepa Ganesh)
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