It is not easy to find impeccable dance, aesthetics and a great theme come together as it did at Spaces for the Ekam Festival by ARTery.
‘Unravelled’, presented by Janaki Rangarajan, was one of the best looks at the iconic woman, Draupadi, and the artiste wasnothing short of brilliant. Not all would agree or even understand Janaki’s point of view; but there was no question about the quality of the interpretation.
Fortunately, one had the opportunity to witness this at another venue that was more conducive to a production that seeks to understand a well-known and course-changing incident from the Mahabharata. At Spaces, the ambience was beautiful, but one could hardly see or hear much of what was going on. The heat and noise outside, didn’t help either.
That said, ‘Unravelled’ was interesting to watch, absorb and think about. We all know this story of Draupadi and the disrobing in an attempt to humiliate, crow over and beat the Pandavas down to nothing. This tests her faith in humanity, her five husbands and in the Divinity that is Krishna. Her anger, angst and dejection are understandable: but what did she really feel at that time? Why did she allow herself to be under such duress?
This part of the Mahabharata has been the focus of many artistes. Janaki Rangarajan’s ‘Unravelled’, as she says, is her personal search for that woman and her mental make-up.
“The seed was planted when a few years ago I visited a Draupadi Amman temple in Chennai . I never knew that she was worhsipped as a goddess and this intrigued me.”
Rather than thinking about the disrobing incident, Janaki wanted to understand her psyche as a woman and what she would have done or said in today’s context. “I tapped into my own experiences, alongwith what has already been said or written, without changing any facts from Vyasa’s Mahabharata.”
The entire structure of ‘Unravelled’, a fictional interpretation, is in four Acts. “She was empowered in many ways; she did not let others decide her life. These were the few things I wanted to focus on,” says Janaki.
The artiste spent the next couple of years researching, starting with Vyasa’s Mahabharata and other regional versions, folk literature and contemporary interpretations and research papers on Draupadi. She then arrived at the concept of the production.
Janaki loves poetry and believes in the power of words. And that is why the use of spoken words, which can be a challenge because it is tough dancing and speaking. “I had already done a couple of pieces (Pablo Neruda’s poetry, Sangam poetry etc.) with spoken words and I wanted to experiment with words all through this production.”
She appraoched Bala, whose work in theatre she was familiar with, to provide a framework to her ideas and words. Janaki wanted him to write the spoken words for the Acts, based on the thoughts she wanted to convey.
Music plays an integral part in a production like this, not just to convey the mood and ambience, but also as a vehicle for expression. She turned to Sudha Raghuraman. The dance choreography came next, which was a learning experience in many ways,” says Janaki, who is the artistic director, choreographer and performer of ‘Unravelled’.
What was performed at Spaces was a shorter version to give a flavour of the entire production. It included the Panjali sabdam by Subramania Bharati.
‘Unravelled’ starts with the soul’s monologue where Draupadi sees her own soul at the funeral pyre. Act 2, ‘When Time Stopped’, describes the disrobing scene. Here, Draupadi knows that she is more powerful than any of the men who are attempting to shame her. Her mental strength and resolve bring her salvation and her faith overrides any discomfort and embarrassment. Act 3, ‘Wildflower’, is about a child and her grandfather, who come across Draupadi’s body and are puzzled about the role of women and their lives. In the ‘Politics of Draupadi’, the final Act, questions abound.
With a fairly taut framework, this is a production that can cut across barriers. Says Bala, “it started as a question for me. What if Draupadi had not resisted the pull of the sari? What would have happened? Why was there no protest when 1,000 girls were lost by Yudhistra in a game of dice? Why was there anger only when the woman was the wife of the Pandavas? I wrote this in free verse and the theatre version will premiere next year.”
Of course, nothing would have worked if it had not been for Janaki. She is intensely passionate, which comes across in her abhinaya. She made it all seem effortless. She was complemented with good vocal accompaniment by Nandini Anand and an extremely competent orchestra.
