Veerbala: feats of four female historical figures encapsulated

January 18, 2019 02:45 pm | Updated 04:25 pm IST

In step with history: Vidha Lal as Razia Sultan

In step with history: Vidha Lal as Razia Sultan

The epoch-making queens of yesteryears – Kittoor Chennamma, Rudrama Devi, Rani Lakshmi Bai and Razia Sultan – were played out in geographical pattern starting from south of India to the north, chiefly through two dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kathak, though four different forms would have been more welcome from the audience point of view.

Historical events like the queens’ defence in protecting their chosen regent and defiance to British ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ were the crowning glory that brought these women to the forefront of history, barring Razia Sultan, who had other political issues to tackle. Trying to recreate history, especially that of constant protest and war, in a solo dance format within a short time-frame is no cakewalk for any artiste, but how the four dancers managed to do so in their medium is something to write home about.

Vidha Lal as Razia Sultan came out in flying colours in more than one aspect. Her costume and change of headgear in accordance to the tone and tenor of the sequence of events was admirable. Kathak being more a show of virtuosity and less of drama, the artiste struck a fine balance of the two without ever allowing it to be an appliqué work. The lyrics and the abhinaya with sanchari were given equal importance and moulded beautifully within the confines of footwork presentations. She was able to capture the various facets of queen Razia’s persona – the delicate beauty of her physical being ( phool kamal si komal kaya ...), her fiery tiger-like spring when confronted with a combat and her love story. Certain details like emulating Razia riding a horse and bringing it to a halt cannot be missed – they underlined Vidha’s artistic creativity.

Young and energetic Dakshina Vaidyanathan Baghel fit the role of Rudrama Devi to a T. She very cleverly customised the martial dance of Telangana (Prerini Shiva tandavam) to suit her medium of Bharatanatyam which gave her a larger scope to use her footwork and gestures with rigour to suit the warring queen. Through brilliant footwork patterns to jatis (mnemonics) the dancer showcased the martial skills of queen Rudramma of Kakatiya dynasty, from horse-riding to sharp-shooting to sword and spear fights. Her mime to rhythmic utterances was eloquent. So was her (the fierce queen) changed demeanour as the affectionate queen and guardian grandmother watching her heir apparent wielding the sword, through a small window slit of her tent. The most memorable and touching sequence was Dakshina’s convincing abhinaya to the queen being attacked by a weapon in her abdomen region; her changing expressions of wrath, followed by valiant and then an expression of shooting pain and spontaneous tears as she holds her bleeding chest and struggles to draw out the weapon before she falls to the ground was superb even as it fulfilled the artistic norm of the navrasa (here it was raudra, veera, karunya, shanta respectively). The artiste was able to draw a complete personality of the queen Rudramma as a young heroic warrior, an able administrator who ushered a number of social welfare schemes for her people; a maternal mentor to her grandson, the would-be king of Kakatiyas. The regent succession issue as opposed to the British doctrine also figured here, very briefly.

Subadrakumari Chauhan’s lilting poem on Jhansi-ki-rani went for a toss with being adapted to a slow music and rendition as Kathak artiste Poorna Acharya tried to portray Manikarnika (queen Lakshmibai’s maiden name) through her childhood, marriage, widowhood and later taking up reigns of Jhansi with her minor son, refusing to yield her kingdom to the British. Poorna’s attire and her change of scene like marriage denoted with a red chunari are worth a mention. The stick dance where she literally took a prop (stick) to show a fight was impressive just like the abhinaya of tying her child to her back before mounting her horse! The mime of riding her horse looked rather ridiculous as was the dancer’s Kung-Fu stances adopted by the warring queen as she takes on her enemies! The optimum footwork to dance was good in bits and pieces.

Shivaranjani Harish as Kittoor Chennamma

Shivaranjani Harish as Kittoor Chennamma

Kittoor Chennamma, a popular queen of Karnataka who also fought tooth and nail for her adopted regent opposing the Doctrine of Lapse was depicted by Bharatanatyam dancer Shivaranjani Harish. The artiste had more to convey in abhinaya rather than dance per se. The nadai (gait) she adopted was the only Bharatanatyam element without props, that was prominently displayed and striking too like emulating the slow trot of a horse to mnemonics. The martial exercises ( la Kalaripayattu ) she adopted in the format of her dance seemed theatrical. The live orchestra with Vasudevan on the vocal was excellent. Curated by Usha RK, ‘Veerbala’ was hosted at India Habitat Centre.

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