Sandhya Kalavidaru staged a section of Mahabharata through their play ‘Suyodhana’ that saw its 104th performance last Saturday at Ravindra Kalakshetra. Sandhya Kalavidaru, a drama troupe was founded in 1977 by late S.V. Krishna Sharma, the director of the play and an actor himself.
The team began the story of battle of Kurukshetra as a mere rivalry between cousins without affixing righteousness to either sides. It explored why one of the sides had to win over another when both had in their baskets right and wrong deeds. “Why Krishna had to support Pandavas and not their cousins?” was the primal quest of the play.
The story traces the life of Suyodhana through his relationships and interactions with Karna, his friend; Shakuni, maternal uncle; Drona, guru and Bheeshma, grand uncle. The visualization of these conversations by the director is interesting as these happen not with real persons but their ghosts. It was an attempt to explore some of the unanswered aspects of Mahabharata. For instance, one of the poignant moments of the war is Karna’s death. In Krishna Sharma’s story, Karna, the most loyal of all Kauravas comes back as a ghost to finally voice his opinions against his patron Suyodhana. Creation of the problematic - portraying Suyodhana as the king who helped the poor, treated the lower caste respectfully and allegiance to his wife Bhanumati- made the audience ponder over the reason for his eventual defeat.
The beauty of this play was in the way the cream of truth was churned out. Krishna’s non-resistance when Suyodhana was reasoning out his actions and pointing at the defects of Pandavas, initially made it look like Suyodhana was unworthy of his punishments. The transition from a benevolent Suyodhana to an arrogantly egoistic emperor was a difficult task which the Sandhya artists brought out elegantly.
Digital effects on the screen by Siddaramu and lighting design by Kiran were promising. The portrayal of Vaishampayana Sarovara and silhouette of Suyodhana provided a moving background for the final scene. Though the experiments in the digital arena were welcoming, technical delays that completely blanked out the auditorium a couple of times was unappealing. An enhanced music would have further amplified the mood.
Krishna’s peacock blue turban added to the attraction the personality emits. Casting Pradeep Anche as Krishna was a brilliant choice for his radiating face and ingeniously arresting smile. The choice of white costume for Suyodhana not just stood out against the red dhoti of Bheema, it withheld the suspense that was going to materialize.
Ashwath Kumar as Karna and Kushal Bhat as Suyodhana entertained the audience in their superlative sarcasms towards Krishna and the Pandavas. Dialogues being the strength of the play, Ranganatha Rao as Shakuni, Krishna’s counterpart on the Kaurava side, displayed witty humour.
The story seemed like a genetic experiment that explored dominant and suppressed traits in a human being. These dominant traits that lie latent in a personality -- for instance in Suyodhana -- are revealed only under exacting pressure. The play explores this aspect of human behaviour competently. Suyodhana, even in his final moment of truth, doesn’t let go of his self. In a time when logical deductions can be drawn for any thought and action, the play was a move towards metaphysical enquiry.
