Poetic renditions of Abhimanyu's bravado

There is no denying the fact that Ramayana and Mahabharata are the two nodal points of reference that directors keep going back to whenever the urge to create overpowers their mind. Of course, their relevance in the contemporary times cannot be overstated either.

One such episode described in Mahabharata is that of Abhimanyu who comes forth to help the Pandava army penetrate the chakravyuh planned by Kauravas, but with half the knowledge learnt in his mother’s womb, he could only enter the trap and not come out of it.

The story is known to all and done over and over again, but the play Arjun Ka Beta directed by Atul Satya Koushik, rediscovered this old tale through a poetic outlook. Inspired from a poem Sandesh Uttara Ka self-composed by the director during his college days, this play took form in 2011 and was restaged as part of the recently concluded  Rang - the annual mega arts festival of The Films and Theatre Society (FTS) at Shri Ram Centre.

Keeping mythology as its prime source, the play delved into the tale and explored the acts of war of Kurukshetra through the words of Abhimanyu, Kaurav, Bhishma Pitamah and Yudhishthir, with a final sermon by Krishna.

The immortal saga still captured the attention of theatre lovers due to the director’s unusual style of bringing poetry in drama. “Natyashastra states that drama is incomplete without poetry. Therefore I decided to let the dialogues remain in poetic
format. One of the obvious reasons was its inspiration from poetry but the other is the poetic liberty that one gets to enjoy,” shares Atul.

Even the elements of role-play where one actor plays both Abhimanyu and Yudhishthir is an intelligent act well executed by the director.  

The director’s vision is clear and impactful as witnessed in the performance. The long dialogue between Abhimanyu and Yudhishthir forms the basis of the play but the manner in which the brutally act of killing Abhimanyu is repeated, is brilliant!

Though Krishna’s entry at the fag end of the play is quite dramatic, it fails to make an impact. The well-composed dialogue or poetry saves the performance as it is through Krishna’s words that the director connects the audience to the plot and makes them realise the implications of the social chakravyuh that each one of us is stuck in, today.        

With reasonable props on stage, near to perfect lighting and timely smoky effect, the play deserves appreciation. However, one wishes that this perfectionist vision of the director would have percolated down to the whole crew. The actors, barring Sahil Chhabra (who plays Abhimanyu and Yudhishthir) and Kanika Sood (Draupadi) are not so impressive in their performance.