It was difficult to fathom what dancer-teacher-composer Madurai R. Muralidaran had in mind for his latest production, ‘Sense Beyond.’ Not only was there every melodramatic ingredient in the pot-pourri - six classical dance styles, folk dances (garba, dandiya), snake dance, comedy and drama – but there was an overdose of everything. The mega effort lasted 2 hours 45 minutes and had a cast of 50 dancers. Was Muralidaran simply over-reaching himself or was it an indulgence he thought he could get away with?
As a dance musical conceived, scripted, composed and directed by him, it scored at the micro level, for the well-rehearsed dance sequences and the intelligent use of varying percussion instruments that distinguished each dance style in the ensemble pieces, but the production lost all credibility at the macro level because of a predictable storyline, overdone acting, poor editing, the crass usage of snoring, coughing and vomiting sounds on the sound track and the ambiguous ending.
The musical revolved round the protagonist Yadhav, an overweight orphan and a dance buff, who travels across the country looking for a sympathetic guru who will nurture his passion and fulfil his dreams. Yadhav learns Kathak, Odissi, Kathakali and Kuchipudi along the way, but it is only in Chidambaram that he turns into a full-fledged dancer. His moment of triumph is in the ‘International Dance Festival’ held at the Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai, where his transformation from a bungling, tragic hero to a trim, Bharatanatyam star is complete.
As the credits rolled on a giant screen at the beginning of ‘Sense Beyond,’ one could see that Muralidaran wanted to do something different. Modelling Yadhav's character as an innocent tramp a la Raj Kapoor, he used special make up (Murugan) to look obese. He tried to insert a vibrant palette of colour and movement within the storyline and be culturally inclusive at the same time. The best part of the show was the ‘International Dance Festival,’ a recital within a recital featuring the guest artists: Pooja and Prarthana (Kathak), Guru Udaya Kumar Shetty and Soumya (Odissi), Sujatha, Usha and Rashmi (Mohiniyattom), Uma Murali and Subha (Kuchipudi), Binesh Mahadevan (Kathakali), Muralidaran and MC Kavyalakshmi (Bharatanatyam); but for this one had to wait for 2 hours! The adavu classes during Yadhav’s travels were also interestingly mounted.
Muralidharan’s attempts at comedy were the lowest points in the show like the recurring ‘Baby Elephant Walk’ tune every time the uncouth Yadhav appeared on stage or the drinking binge the Kathak orchestra indulges in, the only exception being when Yadhav spooks the dacoits in Kerala.
The melodrama that underlined Yadhav’s repeated victimisation with lines like, “I can only laugh at destiny” or “I am fated not to dance…” was overdone in its predictably. Creativity was also in short
supply, one would have liked to see more inputs like the use of shadow play in the running scene. One wished the presentation was more aesthetic.
The orchestral credits for ‘Sense Beyond’: Muralidaran (music composition), Rajesh Vaidya (veena), N.K. Kesavan (percussion), Embar Kannan (violin), Navin Iyer (flute) and Nivas Prasanna (flute).
