|     |
|
| |
 Pritam Das dazzles at IIC Winter Dance Festival - Shilpa Shankar e-mail: shilp.shankar@gmail.com Photo: Vinay Tiwari January 10, 2025 Entering the CD Deshmukh Auditorium on a cold, winter evening of December 13, 2024, I seated myself amidst an audience watching Pritam Das, in rapt attention. Dancing to Tanjavur Sivanandam's varnam, "Moha lahiri konden sami", in Thodi ragam and adi talam, Pritam seemed to be the pining nayika herself, unleashing the waves of desire. His eyes possessed with intense love and longing, he swooped up the viewers into the world of the courtesan's thoughts and imagination. Questioning Rajagopala's indifference (modi seyyaathe meththa), she wonders if he does not care for her anymore. His prolonged absence has made her doubtful of the reciprocity of her love. Bringing out the essence of shringara bhava, Pritam effortlessly portrayed the nayika reminiscent of her time with her beloved. Every one of us appeared to be in his sway, as he went on to expressing the lady's angst and desire to be united with Rajagopala. On one hand, the nayika claims that she is an equal match to Rajagopala in beauty and believes that they are perfectly compatible. Having said that, she also wonders if he will ever return, even once, to relive that passion. These conflicting emotions were conveyed with clarity and detail. Initially, what seemed like an aesthetic portrayal of physical desires with only suggestive spiritual undertones, culminated in reinforcing that it was Rajagopala himself, that she was longing to be with. In one of the charanams, Pritam went on to opening multiple windows, looking to see if the Lord has arrived. With each opening window, he conveyed excitement, anticipation, disappointment, heartbreak and sorrow with utmost depth and sincerity.  Pritam's choreography, under the guidance of his eminent guru Rama Vaidyanathan, was grand and very well thought through, while staying true to Jeetendra Krishna's interpretation of the historical context of the varnam. The lyrical and spiritual essence of each charanam, the background setting, the leelas of Rajagopala were all clearly elucidated by the choreography. The varnam featured breathtaking jathis by the renowned guru Yamini Krishnamurthy. The exquisite adavus, some that involved rapid succession of tapping of the feet, fuelled by Pritam's precise footwork, had us bedazzled. At times, he seemed to playfully converse with the audience, through his adavus, to check if we were up to speed with his lightning fast movements. The varnam, composed beautifully in a mid-paced tempo (madhya laya), describes Rajagopala's grand appearance and his many other virtuous attributes. Pritam employed majestic adavus - slower and descriptive - to effectively enunciate Rajagopala's attributes and leela. With every charanam, he would take us into a state of trance, with his bhava laden portrayal. Just as we would be soaking in his abhinaya, he would rouse us awake with fiery jathis and dizzyingly precise nritta. Overall, the performance was nothing short of mesmerizing and the audience unanimously rose to its feet to applaud the artiste. The immersive experience of the show stayed on for the following several days. Pritam Das, with his endless talent, passion, dedication and stamina, is a formidable artiste, who is going to dance his way to glory.  Shilpa Sankar is an avid Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam rasika with a passion for writing. A trained Carnatic vocalist, she holds an M.A. degree in Carnatic music from the University of Madras. An ex-software engineer, she is mother to 2 young children, currently residing in Noida. |
