Blessed with natural grace and beauty

National award-winning actress Shobana proved once again why she is so popular among the masses as she presented Krishna, an English musical based on Lord Krishna, the beloved god of many.

Organised by Rudram and held at a jam-packed Chowdiah Hall recently, Shobana (who played Krishna) and her highly talented troupe presented a wonderful and colourful visual treat for the masses, the proceeds of which went to Vishranthi — a charitable trust for senior citizens in Bangalore.

A dialogue drama with a blend of classical folk and film dance, Krishna portrayed the various facets of Lord Krishna — his mischievousness, charm, intelligence and might that make him and his preachings so popular.

Also touching upon some of the lesser known stories of ‘The Mahabharata’, Krishna featured the voices of celebrities like Shabana Azmi, Konkona Sen, Nandita Das, Prabhu Deva and Milind Soman to name a few.

It also focussed on the various roles he played in his life — like that of a messenger, philosopher and mediator.

Be it an adorable baby Krishna or his charming ways with the gopikas, his battle with Jarasandha’s soldiers or his sweet romance with Radha, Shobana and her team depicted each facet of Krishna in the most graceful manner possible.   In fact, a slice of Bollywood was added to the entire show too. 

For instance, the troupe danced to the title track of Dabangg to show the fiery zest of Krishna as he fought warriors, bears and befriended Garuda, the mighty bird, and Radha Kaise Na Jale to portray Radha’s jealousy when Krishna danced with the gopikas.

His return to Mathura and his concern for the well-being of the Yadavas were some of the other scenes portrayed too.  Apart from the Bollywood influence, the funny dialogues and humourous expressions of all the dancers made the audience roar with laughter.  One such funny scene was where Radha tells him he dances beautifully to which he replies, “I wouldn’t have if you were ugly!”

Towards the latter part of the show, scenes from ‘The Mahabharata’ were depicted with the Pandavas in their shimmering white costumes and the Kauravas in their sombre black ones.

The famous gamble scene in which Yudhisthira loses everything, including Draupadi, to the Kauravas and the downfall of Duryodhana as Bhima hits him on the knee in the final battle were portrayed wonderfully.  In between, an audio visual related to Krishna with evidences of his existence was shown.  “I attend her performance every year and the story, this time, is extremely compelling. As soon as I heard about this show in October, I bought the tickets for it. It was something that just could not be missed,” said Lalitha, an entrepreneur who had come for the show.

“They must have taken a lot of time to craft a ballad of this calibre. Generally, Shobana performs solo but this time, the focus was not just on her, but the others in her troupe too. But I must say she single-handedly carried the show on her shoulders,” she added.