‘Balivijayam’ is all about how Ravana, being tricked by Narada, ends up being tied to the tail of Bali. As playwright Kalloor Namboothiripad has kept the focus entirely on Ravana, the success of its staging is all up to the actor who presents the demon king. The recent presentation of the play in Thiruvananthapuram, saw Kalamandalam Shanmukhadas giving his best as Ravana. He presented the thiranottam and the slow tempo padam that followed in all its elegance. The highlight of the scene, referred to as ‘Karavimsathi’ – 20 hands and 10 heads of Ravana in contest with each other to romance Mandodari – was essayed with finesse. Kalamandalam Arun portrayed Mandodari.
In the next scene, Narada enters showering praises on Ravana and informs him about Bali, a monkey, who considers Ravana ‘as silly as a shred of grass’. Mathur Govindankutty as Narada was good for the most part, but it would have been better had he chosen to present the character with a bit more gravity. Some of his untimely interactions only helped in diminishing the gravity of the scene.
Ravana decides to teach Bali a lesson but Narada intervenes as the King sets out taking his mighty Chandrahasa, the sword presented to him by Lord Shiva. Narada asks him how he managed to get hold of the sword and Ravana rejoices in sharing the story behind it.
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The sequences that follow – ‘Kailasodharanam’ and ‘Parvathy Viraham’ – provide many opportunities for the actor who plays the role of Ravana to exhibit his/her skills in pakarnattam. But here, the lack of time posed an added challenge before the actor – to grab the attention of the viewers without stretching it too long. Shanmukhadas handled the situation remarkably well by selectively detailing the portions and by going for the shortened version of ‘Parvathy Viraham’. The clarity in mudras combined with the fluency in abhinaya helped the actor to hold the interest of viewers. At the end of it, Narada suggests Ravana should not spoil the reputation of the sword by using it against a monkey. Ravana agrees and without taking the Chandrahasa, sets off to fight Bali.
Ravana along with Narada finds Bali near the seashore offering his morning prayers. As per the directions of Narada, Ravana tries to pull Bali by his tail and ends up all tied up. Bali, at the end of his prayers, finds Ravana in this state, sympathises with him and offers his friendship.
While Kalamandalam Parthasarathy looked impressive in appearance as the red-bearded character, he could have done his homework and equipped himself to present Bali in a much more convincing manner. Kalamandalam Jayaprakash, ably assisted by Kalamandalam Krishnakumar, enriched the play with their motivated rendering. Margi Raveendran made his contribution count on the maddalam while young Kalanilayam Krishnakumar showed promise on the chenda. Drisyavedi organised the staging of the play.
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