An enthralling four-hour presentation of the first four scenes of Nalacharitham Day 2 was staged in the capital city recently.
The opening scene showed the newly-wed royal couple in magnificent make-up and costumes, clasping hands. The king’s eyes linger on the beauty of his beloved. Nala notes that the august princess has “eyes and lips resembling petals of blue-lotus and tender leaves.”
Kathakali playwright Unnayi Warrier (1675 -1716) penned in this context the elegant padam for Nala in Thodi, set to Adanta tala, making it a unique composition in a slow tempo. The roles of King Nala and his wife Damayanti were essayed remarkably by seasoned actors Kalamandalam Balasubrahmanyan and Margi Vijayakumar respectively.
The soft beats of the chenda and the maddalam played dexterously by Kalamandalam Krishnadas and Margi Rathnakaran respectively supported the mood of the scene.
Balasubrahmanyan handled his role with ease, showcasing great skill in keeping up with the beats, while also paying due attention to expressive and interpretative acting. Vijayakumar enacted the heroine’s role with élan. However, one could feel the impropriety of leaving out the third stanza ( Aarthu natakkum) rather than the second one ( Bhrimgaali ) as the former is considered to be of significance for its revelation of the mental state of Damayanti.
Kalamandalam Hari. R. Nair as Kali
Balasubrahmanyan embellished his presentation with context-sensitive innovations, including one reminiscent of Kalidasa’s Shakuntala . Upon watching a male bird leave his female partner after a short period of intense enjoyment, Balasubrahmanyan’s Nala hastened to assure Damayanti that he would ever remain her caring protector.
This scene highlighted the poignancy of their imminent separation consequent to Kali’s malicious interference in their peaceful life. The first scene spanned almost half of the performance time, but was well-paced and engaging.
The villainous character Kali and his mean-minded henchmen, Dwapara and Indra, who led a four-member team of gods who desired Damayanti’s hand but left the wedding hall bestowing on the newly-weds their blessings to help them throughout their life and Pushkara, the weak-minded anti-hero of the play, all made the subsequent scenes action-packed.
Peesappalli Rajeevan and Kalamandalam Hari R. Nair was innovative with the roles of Pushkara and Kali respectively. Rajeevan’s portrayal of the fickle-minded Pushkara falling prey to Kali’s iniquitous influence amply brought out the weakness of the character. Hari’s portrayal of Kali was impeccable in all respects. Kalamandalam Athul’s Indra did justice to his short role.
Singers Kalamandalam Vishnu and Kalamandalam Krishnakumar commendably rendered the songs and quatrains of the play-text. The songs were charged with context-appropriate emotions and were in conformity with the conventions. Kalamandalam Ravisankar on the chenda and Chunakkara Aji on the maddalam provided a congenial ambience to the performance.
The recital was held under the aegis of Drisyavedi in commemoration of the legendary Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, reputed for his presentation of Nala of Nalacharitham Day 2.
