Despite being the cultural fountainhead of the country, Chennai is yet to receive the recognition it deserves, speakers observed at the launch of the DVD of Mayan Ravan, a dance drama by actor-cum-dancer Shobana.
Releasing the DVD, brought out by Shemaroo Entertainment, here on Wednesday, actor Kamal Haasan said the industry has produced extraordinary talents like Shivaji Ganesan who did not receive their due honours even posthumously. “I hope the government would take steps to recognise and commemorate his inimitable performances,” he said.
Kamal Haasan commended Ms. Shobana’s creative initiative to conceptualise and choreograph the drama in a way to reach the masses. “I am astounded to see her work that has packed in all elements to attract people to performing arts. Let us hope that the drama reaches greater heights and gets screened at places like Broadway.”
Member of Parliament, Kanimozhi, said the representation from Chennai at national and international cultural events was much less considering the large number of talents in the State. “We have a problem with packaging. Our talents are buried in small regions and it is time we go global.” Performing arts is continuously evolving itself and it is important to experiment to attract the masses. Technology-infused performances are bound to attract audience with their clarity and creativity. Maya Ravan demystifies the classical arts by introducing various forms of music and dance, and also provides visual treat to the audience, she said.
On the making of the dance drama, Ms. Shobana said it was a confluence of classical, folk, theatre and film music and dance. “We sought to represent the country’s performing arts culture based on the epic,” she said. Shemaroo Entertainment director Hiren Gada said “Maya Ravan narrates Ramayan in contemporary fashion. This is an attempt to connect Indian culture to the common people.” Actor Prabhu and Bharatanatyam dancer Chitra Viswesvaran participated.
The DVDs are available with subtitles in five languages – English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
