It was a crisp yet contemplative story of the cryptic Chitrangadha, the less-heard wife of Arjun, the hero of Mahabharat, that Ranjana Gauhar and her Utsav ensemble chose to present at the 19th Bharat Rang Mahotsav organised by the National School of Drama.
Culled out of the English one-act play as well as the Bengali version penned by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, this Odissi ballet “Chitrangadha” flows softly and smoothly unravelling the inner layers of the heroine Chitrangadha who is depicted as a valiant Manipuri princess who is not prone to feminine graces but is strong of heart and physical prowess, a cherished leader of her land. The character of the princess is developed in a phased manner – firstly introducing her as wielding the sword and practising martial arts with her maidens (group of dancers) while the digital backdrop provided a subtle accentuation to the scene being enacted in the foreground. The group along with Gauhar glide in and out dancing in tandem to a Bengali song that describes Chitrangadha. Graceful, languorous movements marked the Odissi nritya while in the background to a corner of the stage on a pedestal, the audience is shown Arjun (Vinod Kevin Bachan) in penance. The princess also happens to look at the handsome form and immediately falls in love. The change in nature of the heroine was beautifully depicted with a changed scenario where she becomes conscious of her looks, her bath, her dressing as against her earlier interests only with martial arts. Scenes like the ‘transformed’ Chitrangadha, ably essayed by Vrinda Chadha, the alter ego (conscience – again Gauhar) telling her to be true to herself, the use of spotlight technique to enhance the character on stage, for instance, the meditating Arjun, the real princess who emerges in the background (again on the pedestal to the corner) – these enriched the production.
