Portraying an enduring emotion

The South Western Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation held a fund-raising event at Chowdiah Memorial Hall called Yashoda Krishna recently. Everyone was quite excited to see Padmashri Hema Malini on stage. The auditorium was in fact jam-packed.

The show started by honouring the guests and with a brief presentation of the work done by the organisation in the past. The performance started with a small speech about the strong and enduring emotion between the mother and her child, which was also the theme of the show.

The dance-drama showed the life of Krishna from the time he was left with Yashoda to the point where he lifted up the Govardhana parvata. While Hema Malini, played Yashoda in this act, Lord Krishna was played by various child artistes and in the final act by her daughter, Ahana Deol. The drama had vocals by Suresh Wadkar and Kavita Krishnamurthy and was quite a treat for the eyes.

The audience waited with bated breath for the first glimpse of Hema Malini and one could feel the enthusiasm when the hall filled up with applause as she graced the stage. The drama was divided into eight parts, each showing a certain stage of life of Lord Krishna since his birth. Hema Malini was graceful and beautiful as Yashoda, the foster mother to Krishna, who went through extraordinary experiences while bringing him up. Especially brilliant was the sequence where he sucks the life out of the demon Putana who came in disguise to feed the child amidst the festivities of the naming ceremony.

The next few acts displayed the makhan chor that he was and Yashoda’s failed attempts at controlling him. The younger Krishna brings the matki down from the ceiling was quite entertaining. The sequence of the child opening his mouth to show the entire Universe to his mother was well received.

In the last act of the drama, Ahana Deol, played a grown up Krishna who annoys Lord Indra and effortlessly lifts the Govardhan Mountain with his left little finger to give shelter to the Gopas and Gopis of Brinadaban. While the drama was beautifully presented by the actress and her troupe, the one thing that stood out as a sour thumb was the treatment churned out to the media people who were present to cover the event. The poor co-ordination skills not only spoiled the effect of the performance but also left a bad after-taste.