The auditorium at Narada Gana Sabha reverberated with applause as the curtains rose to reveal an artistically-crafted temple on stage for the play Kamalakshi. Shanmugham (stage decor and props) and Victor Paulraj (lighting) need to be complimented.
The English play written by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan and directed by P.C. Ramakrishna is set in the late 19th Century. It deals with the story of Kamalakshi (Sumitra Nitin), a devadasi dancer, and Sivaguru, a singer at the famous temple of Tyagesa in Tiruvarur.
Bharatanatyam artiste Sumitra Nitin as Kamalakshi danced and emoted with the necessary conviction. A scene from the English play ‘Kamalakshi’ staged at Narada Gana Sabha. | Photo Credit: Ravindran_R
The play opens with festivities in a temple. The men and women of the village await the arrival of Kamalakshi for her ‘Potukattu’ ceremony (dedicating to the temple for seva). She is decked up in finery and arrives dancing in front of a palanquin carrying the idol of Tyagesa. Those assembled there, especially singer Sivaguru (Sikkil Gurucharan) and Sugavanam (mirasdar) are charmed by her beauty and dance. Kamalakshi dances to two full-length songs — ‘Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam’ and ‘Theruvil varano’. Also present are her mother Arvathamma and friend Neela.
The bond that develops between Kamalakshi and Sivaguru; an infatuated Sugavanam aspiring to be the dancer’s patron and the dancer resisting the pressure from her mother to yield; and her total surrender and devotion to Tyagesa, leading to her shedding her mortal remains, form the broad storyline. The play reminds of the popular 1968 Tamil film, Thillana Mohanambal.
Sumitra Nitin (Kamalakshi) and Anuradha Ramesh (as her mother) in a scene from Madras Players’ English play ‘Kamalakshi’ staged at Narada Gana Saba, Chennai. | Photo Credit: Ravindran_R
Kamalakshi brings together live music, dance and drama — a ‘first’ in English theatre, according to the brochure.
Being a Carnatic vocalist, Sikkil Gurucharan is at ease while singing, but doesn’t seem to be at his best when delivering dialogues. Bharatanatyam artiste Sumitra Nitin dances and emotes with the necessary conviction. However, the characterisation of the lead roles could have been fleshed out better.
Anuradha Ramesh, who plays the mother, Parur Ananthashree as the friend, Hyma Ramakrishna as the rich woman, S. Ram (mirasdar), and Krithivasan as Sivaguru’s friend impress with their portrayals.
A scene from Madras Players’ English play Kamalakshi that features Sikkil Gurucharan and Sumitra Nitin. | Photo Credit: Ravindran. R
While recreating a specific historical time frame, the story should be looked at from an insider’s perspective, while visual detailing in terms of costume, jewellery and sets should reprise the era.
Given that temple festivities would normally include people from varied strata of society, seeing all the male characters uniformly attired in dhoti-kurta rankled. A coloured stole on musicians’ shoulders instead of an angavastram? And a Tiruvarur temple priest wearing a kurta?
Despite the obvious effort, the play did not land well because of a few reasons. The very premise — narrating the story of a devadasi — has already been done successfully decades ago in Thillana Mohanambal, and so this also seemed outdated.
The depiction of the devadasi here was from the perception of an outsider. Though Kamalakshi’s character was written with empathy, the play would have, perhaps, made a deeper impact had the script offered a deeper insight into the persona of a dasi, and the travails and anguish she experiences in comparison to other women from varied backgrounds.
However, some scenes stand out, especially the one where the rich woman seeks an extension of the dancer’s tenure to safeguard her from the mirasdar. Also, Kamalakshi’s outburst, raising questions about the status of those like her, also touched upon the core issues relating to the life of devadasis.
Towards the end, when Kamalakshi merges with Tyagesa, one feels the spiritual significance of her art, the message behind the play, can be conveyed more strongly.
