Revisiting the classic

Lucid poetry

This love story of King Dushyanta and Shakunthala, the beautiful daughter of Menaka has been conceptualised and choreographed by veteran Usha Venkateswaran. The programme will be presented in Sanskrit by two experienced Kathak dancers — Hari and his wife Chethana, and their troupe of 30 dancers. Metrolife speaks to the leading male dancer Hari, to find out what awaits the audience at this event.

One will get to see Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakunthalam in Kathak style for the first time. Usha, being the godmother of Hari and Chethana, was clearly the first choice for the conceptualiser of the entire production. “We insisted on Shakunthalam as it is about love, peace and harmony,” he says. Having known Usha for a decade now, and having worked with her many times before, Hari is full of praises for her. “She is such a nice person, and is extremely passionate about dance.”

He recollects the tough time his wife Chethana had while rehearsing for the role. “Doing Kathak is simple as compared to emoting the way Shakunthala does. Many a time, Chethana would end up crying as she would feel sorry for Shakunthala,” he laughs. But he feels that the team has enhanced Shakunthala’s role. “From an innocent girl, she becomes a beautiful maiden as she understands the circle of life.”

Even the costumes for the show have been designed by both Hari and Chethana. “They are extremely periodic. We researched for six months and realised what an important role the deer and the peacocks play in the drama,” he says. “Chethana is a beautiful costume designer so it’s going to be a very colourful show. It will be as good as watching a movie.”

The music of the drama is by Praveen D Rao, who according to Hari, is a great musician. “The beautiful voices of talented singers like Ustad Fayaz Khan, Kavita Krishnamurthy and Pallavi will take the audience to a whole, new world,” he promises.

Bangalore is the first place where the production is being staged. “Bangalore is the right place to start any production as its such a culturally-rich City and has a young mentality. We know that once a production is a hit over here, it will be superhit everywhere,” he smiles. “We have always received standing ovation over here,” he is grateful.

Shakunthalam will be presented on May 29, 7.30 at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.