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 Nritya Pratibha Festival- Vijay Shankere-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com December 26, 2025 One of the premier cultural organisations of Mumbai, situated in the central suburbs, is the Rasika Ranjani Sabha, contributing fruitfully towards the propagation and promotion of Indian classical music and dance for decades together. It organised the thematic Nritya Pratibha festival for two consecutive days on 8th and 9th November at their hall in Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar East, Mumbai. The highlight presentation of the festival was the iconic theme 'Rukmini Satya' incorporating the characterisation of two royal women, Rukmini and Satyabhama in the life of Lord Krishna, performed in the Kuchipudi style.  Poojalakshmi Rukmini Satya was performed by two senior disciples of Guru Dr Sailaja Desai of Nritya Kinnera Academy, MG Poojalakshmi as Rukmini and Sindhuja Desai as Satyabhama. Dr Sailaja is the prime disciple of Dr Maddali Usha Gayatri of Nritya Kinnera, Hyderabad. She was initiated into Kuchipudi by Vedantam Jagannadha Sharma. Dr Sailaja was awarded the doctorate Phd for her thesis on 'Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini' under the guidance of Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna. Sailaja is also a gold medallist in MA Dance from the University of Hyderabad and an A grade artist from Hyderabad Doordarshan. Rukmini and Satyabhama introduce themselves highlighting their characteristic features in the Pravesa Daruvu (entrance dance movements) followed by viraha (separation), the pangs of separation from the beloved and finally the Patra Lekhana called as Lekha, wherein both write letters to Krishna, requesting him to come for blissful union. While Satyabhama's character is directly taken from dance drama 'Bhama Kalapam', Rukmini's is from Krishna Leela Tarangini by Narayana Teertha, also written in dance drama format. While Tarangams are written in Sanskrit, Bhama Kalapam is in Telugu. Bhama is 'soundarya garvita', proud of her beauty and is a swadheenapatika nayika while Rukmini is also a beauty but a mugdha nayika.  Sindhuja Desai Circumstances of Bhama are different from that of Rukmini. Bhama is already married to Krishna at the time of writing letter, while Rukmini in her letter requests Krishna to take her away to get married as she does not want to get married to Shishupala. Rukmini praises her Lord but Satyabhama condemns him for leaving her. Satyabhama represents Bhudevi, material world and energy, while Rukmini represents Lakshmi for harmony, peace and prosperity. It was interesting to watch the interpretations with subtle expressions and 'vachika abhinaya' wherever necessary. Although both are devoted to Lord Krishna, their attitude and treatment are different which makes the presentation quite interesting. Both Poojalakshmi as Rukmini and Sindhuja as Satyabhama created a lasting impression with their command over expressional dancing, rhythmic and stylized movements. The festival also featured the Mohiniattam recital by disciples of Guru Jayashree Nair, Bharatanatyam by students of Guru Padmini Radhakrishnan and Kathak by students of Guru Snehal Jambhekar.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
