The Chowdiah Memorial Hall was packed with people. They’d come in from all across the City to watch Vyjayantimala Bali perform. She still remains the favourite of a lot of young and the old dance lovers in the City.
The evening began a little late but the excitement was still afresh. The three-piece performance was based on Sita’s suffering when she was separated from Lord Rama thrice in her lifetime. In the first act called Sita Prathama Vishlesha, Sita, Rama and Lakshmana are in the forest and encounter Surpanakha whose nose is cut off by Lakshman. It was almost magical when Vyjayantimala grazed the stage. Even at this age she was lively and full of verve. Graceful and full of energy, she was as beautiful as ever. Later when Ravana comes in form of a hermit to take revenge and abduct Sita, her transformation from Sita to Ravana was perfect and it was indeed a breathtaking performance. The first part showed Kripa or mercy shown by Sita while she was in Ravana’s custody.
The second act called Sita Vithya Visesham, showed Sita being rescued from Ravana and later having to go through Agni pariksha to prove her purity and devotion to Rama. But she is nonetheless ordered to leave the palace and go to the forest. In this part, we could see Sita’s sadness and her agony over being separated from Rama. Vyjayantimala showed a sea of expressions, from Sita’s despair to Rama’s sadness on being questioned about his integrity.
As the lights focussed on her while she narrated the story through dance, you could feel the pain of the character. The third and the final act showed Sita joining with the Mother Earth after meeting Rama for the last time and with her sons Lava and Kusha.
As the audience sat still in their respective seats, overwhelmed by the flawless performance by the artiste, one could feel the amount of hard work that went into the performance. The two-hour dance extravaganza drew to an end with a roaring applause from the audience.
DHNS
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