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 Venugaan: A story of the divine seeking liberation from human bondage - Maya Krishnamurty e-mail: mayakkm.odissi@gmail.com Photos: Sankhya Dance Company and Sejas Mistry October 10, 2024 Venugaan - the title, read sans context, bespeaks the song of Lord Krishna's flute, that is if an unwitting audience member awaits the time-tested subject of Lord Krishna and his leela. The underlying basis for Venugaan, however, could not be further from the story of Lord Krishna and his cajoling ways. This solo exposition by renowned Bharatanatyam exponent Vaibhav Arekar brought forth a phantasmagoria of powerful and stirring emotions as Krishna battles the arbiter of his conscience and his experience of reality at the threshold of death. Presented as an exploration of theatre and vachikabhinaya with free movement and spoken word in the idiom of Bharatanatyam, Vaibhav Arekar and Sankhya Dance Company, Mumbai brought this production to Medai - The Stage, Bangalore on October 2. The black-box space with its intimate ambience rendered great potency to his theatrical exploration into the self, as he conveyed the varied emotions of the anukarya (main character), Krishna.  The evening began with an invocation to Lord Krishna, a short rendition of Madhurashṭakam by Sant Vallabhacharya. Thereafter, Venugaan was introduced with, "Lord Krishna, the manifestation of the Divine, caught in the vortex of joys and sorrows of human life..." The lines blurred between the anukarta (performer) and the anukarya (character) as Krishna's angst struck a chord with us, the audience, who lived each moment of the dialogues and character presented; after all, Lord Krishna's greatest power is that while he is the supreme Brahman, he is, at heart, very human. Venugaan, thus, taps into the most primeval of human sentiments, through Krishna's experience on the last day of his life, as he questions his actions and decisions and relives memories with Radha, Rukmini, Draupadi, Uttara, Kunti, Gandhari, and Arjuna. Through his nuanced abhinaya, actions, and words, Vaibhav Arekar elicited a deep understanding of the bond that Krishna shared with these individuals.  In the emotional tumult preceding his death, Krishna's mind is engulfed with contrasts. The love of Brindavana and the King of Dwaraka, Krishna was, on the one hand, the proud king, the impassioned lover, and the endearing one, bringing all under his solicitous care. On the other hand, he was the diffident man facing death in the eyes, entreating the Almighty to release him from the "human" bondage of pain and suffering. He is lost in Radha's passionate love, only to have the same caresses shackle him when he snaps back to reality. He reminisces playing his flute in joyous abandon to the delight of those around him, only to find the same hands that play the flute reddened by the blood of those whom he vanquished. He is jolted by the suffering endured by those he knew, only to become an old man, filled with regret, waiting for his time to come. And so, our hearts go out to Krishna, this brave, ambitious man, who on the last day of his life, finds himself questioning his very existence. This man, who, at all other times is that omniscient supreme being. How very human, he seems, after all, ambushed by the conflict between the past and the present. Therein lay the power of Vaibhav Arekar's expression - bringing out this complexity by looking directly into the eyes of the audience, as if to seek answers to questions that are but rhetorical - contemplating right and wrong, life and death, being and nothingness, and delving into the profound through the pragmatic. The presentation concluded with Krishna in mother Yashoda's embrace in "Krishna nee begane baro" with the performer imploring the Almighty to come hither and come soon. And what followed was the sound of silence.  Designed with a mix of spoken dialogue, free movement, evocative imagery, traditional Bharatanatyam rhythm sequences, and recorded dialogues and music, the light designing contributed immensely to this fierce exploration into the human psyche. The production is based on the original theatrical direction of Hemant Hazare. Written by Professor Vasant Dev, and directed by Sushant Jadhav, who also designed the costumes, set, and lights, Venugaan has been choreographed by Vaibhav Arekar to the lyrics of Vallabhacharya, Jayadeva, and Vyasaraya Tirtha. It is set to the music direction, percussion and rhythm composition of Satish Krishnamurthy, with the vocal and music composition by Karthik Hebbar, flute by Sandip Kulkarni, sitar by Aparna Deodhar, and music recording by Tapan Das, Trio Studio, Mumbai.  Maya Krishnamurty is a trained Odissi dancer, and freelance English professional based in Bangalore. Maya holds a post-graduate diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, and a Master of Performing Arts in Odissi Dance from Sri Sri University, Cuttack, and has been learning Odissi for over a decade. |
