My Saviour:
An Indian version
- Padma Jayaraj,
Thrissur
e-mail: padmajayaraj@gmail.com
January 11,
2008
 My
Savior is a light and sound mega show, a grand spectacle that tells the
story of the life of Jesus Christ, by Soorya, a well-known cultural organization
of 30 years standing. Krishnamoorthy who founded Soorya started the movement
of Theater freedom. And the show is an example of his model of the
theater. The nonstop, two-hour mega show is a grand spectacle in which
Christian perception is given an Indian dimension. It is a collage of Vedic
concepts, Biblical myths, geographical and historical realities enhanced
by the magic of technology.
The show begins
with thunder and lightning; the screen projecting cinematic visuals of
the scientific theory of the big-bang. Although the title suggests Bible,
the show begins with the chanting of Oum. "Word was God," echoes
in our intellectual horizon. Then Gayatri mantra invokes "Let there be
Light," the Indian concept.
The entire
theory of Creation has an Indian facet. Then seasons color the Earth. Nature
becomes a creative energy, the mother. Christ the son of God is born out
of her. From the freedom of the artist is born the story of Christ as presented
in My Savior.
The stage
dramatizes the biblical stories: the important events in the life of Jesus.
And on the screen we watch clippings from films like the Bible, Benhur
etc which gives an authentic backdrop of geographic and historical realities
to the events on stage.
The choruses
sing and dance carrying the story forward. Tableaux are formed to highlight
and dramatize the landmarks in the life of Jesus: the birth of Jesus, the
Magi from the East following a star, seeking refuge in Rome, the boy Jesus
declaring his mission, John the Baptist, baptizing Jesus and then the long
journey of him becoming Christ.
 Somewhere
at the back of our memories, the saga of parallel myths zoom. As we watch
King Herod ordering the Massacre of Innocents, we are reminded of Kamsa
seeking baby Krishna to murder him. The temptations that haunt Jesus in
the desert are pictured as hallucinations that take the tormented mind
to the brink of madness. Perhaps, spiritual path is beset with such overwhelming
experiences. The miracles that Christ performs highlight a different dimension
and a spiritual connotation that uplifts the stories from the realm of
the mundane. His brand of preaching through parables and the choice of
his disciples are turning points in his path. His justice is different
from the then known laws. It inverted a mirror into the self before judging:
look within before you judge. Mary of Magdalene becomes his follower!!
Miracles, disciples, and followers point to the birth of Christianity.
The Last Supper and his journey towards Calvary are wrought with pain.
Crucifixion and Resurrection are juxtaposed as Man’s willful negation of
the good and the mystery of the divine.
"At some point
of time in human history, Christ was hijacked by Europe," said Krishnamoorthy,
the director and choreographer of My Savior. And so he placed special
emphasis on Christ hailing from Asia, a truism often forgotten. More
than hundred artists, all non-Christians, recreated the life and time of
Jesus Christ, with passionate involvement, a tribute to our eclectic spirit
at a time when religion is hijacked by politicians. Art is an integrating
force; art is both for art's sake and life's sake is the message of My
Savior.
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