A Ramayana play through Ravana’s eyes

A mythological play ‘Poulasthyana Pranaya Kathe’, written and directed by S V Krishna Sharma, will be staged at K H Kalasoudha, Hanumantha Nagar on May 27, 7 pm to 9.30 pm.

‘Sandhya Kalavidaru’, an amateur drama group, will be presenting the play. The play is a Kannada epic based on Latha Vamshi’s novel. Poulasthya Ravana, grandson of Pulasthya Brahma, is the protagonist who leads this version of the mystical Ramayana.

Ramayana is recreated through the eyes of Ravana, who is traditionally the villain of the epic. “Ravana’s actions are depicted in Valmiki’s Ramayana but here his inner feelings are also depicted clearly. Ravana is Shiva’s devotee, plays the veena and is a great musician. He composed a lot of ragas, which is why he is called ‘dasakhanta’ (which is not the count of heads but the number of ragas he has created),” explains director-actor S V Krishna Sharma.

He adds, “Ravana reveals himself in an entirely new light, with many noble qualities.”

The play was first staged by the group in 1987 and has been staged at least 40 to 50 times. “From 2000 to 2017, I couldn’t stage the drama for various reasons. I staged the play again in 2017 and it was a pleasure to bring it back to the theatre lovers,” he says.

The play has actors V Ranganatha Rao, B Ashok Katte, Ashwath Kumar, Pradeep Anche, Sankrutya Simha, Kavya Chandrashekhar, Phalguni Rao, Radhika Bhardwaj, Sujith Shetty and Kuladeep Somayaji on stage.

The best part about the play is that it will be presented by amateurs. “Our artistes are not full-time performers; they are professionals like software engineers, dancers, farmers and technicians and they bring their varied experiences together. It was always lively and fulfilling to present plays with a mixed group,” says Krishna.

Ask him if the play has changed over the years and he quips, “The play continues to stay in the same format and impress
people. It was nice to see that when the play was staged in 2017, there were people sitting for two-and-a-half hours at a stretch without a break. Good theatre still continues to impress people.”

For details, call 9449049497.