Vandana Kasaravalli plays Shurpanaki

The Ramayana character, portrayed as demonic, deserves more empathetic treatment, says dancer

A dance-theatre work, ‘Shurpanaki’, by Vandana Supriya Kasaravalli, will be staged at Seva Sadan, Malleswaram, on May 28, 6.30 pm.

Vandana, an Odissi dancer from Bengaluru, has worked on this experimental piece in Kannada, which is unique compared to traditional Odissi recitals that happen in Odia, Sanskrit or Hindi.

Filmmaker Apurva Kasaravalli has written the piece and Vandana has choreographed it. “The piece talks about what happened with Shurpanaki and how it was wrong. I feel that in Ramayana, Ram and Lakshmana played with her feelings. Instead of cutting off her nose, ears and breasts, one could have always turned her down and expressed their disinterest in her,” she points out.

For Vandana, Shurpanaki “is also a woman and not just a ‘rakshasi’ (demon)”. “She also had the right to feelings and her desire led her to like someone and convey it,” she says. A song by Karthik Hebbar on Shurpanaki called ‘Navarasa Gadya’, which mentions how she showcases all the ‘navarasas’ (nine emotions), inspired Vandana’s piece.

The work is a mix of Odissi and Yakshagana. “This is an experimental piece which breaks conventional norms of classical Odissi, while maintaining reverence and respect for the dance form. I love theatre and I was involved with the work for almost a year,” she says.

Vandana who has great appreciation for theatre, found working on the piece “difficult and different”. “As a dancer and choreographer, creating a piece comes naturally but the challenge comes when one is incorporating elements of dance and theatre, and making it cohesive. This took time,” she says.

Vandana adds that as a dancer, she is not used to mouthing dialogues. “Thus, it took much more effort to remember the lines and the dance steps. I have talented people in the family, including my husband, who work in the arts field, which made it a bit easier,” she says.

In most mythological stories, where characters like Radha or Sita are shown on stage, they always have a ‘sakhi’ (female friend) with them. “In the work, Krishnamurthy Thunga, a Yakshagana artiste plays my ‘sakha’ (male friend),” she adds.

Vandana adds that her work also aims to question colourism, racism, and body shaming among other discriminations that women go through particularly. “While most other dance pieces have a repertoire, this piece is different as it also aims to give a message to the audience,” she says.

The work has been presented at B Jayashree’s theatre festival at Gubbi in Karnataka, and Adishakti Theatre Arts in Puducherry earlier, and will be showcased at
Bengaluru for the first time.

Entry is free. RSVP to 78995 49696 or [e-mail]