A premier in Bangalore, for the "46th Bengaloru Ganesh Utsav" festival. Yesterday was Shobhana's 'Maya Ravan'... where shobhana takes the role of kaykeyi in the start and then Mayavi ravana.
It was held at APS college grounds and the grounds was filled with people all over.
expressions, music, narration by famous film industry persons, visual effects was a beauty to watch and hear!
It first began with Kaykeyi (Shobhana). 'Mantra' laid by the 'spirit of Ravana' was a self made twist in the epic, where Kaykeyi gets influnced to send Lord Rama in excile for 14 yrs. This 'spirit of ravana' entering mantra inturn into kaykeyi took the audience aback!
during the 'Seetha Swayamvaram'...the very well known "break-the- bow -of -lord shiva" was absent. rather only to lift and to shoot it was portrayed! another drawback i should say in showcasing the great epic "Ramayana".
the designer-costumes, visuals effects and the music (though with a lot of box office hits)... were the highlight.
the well publicized show and the famous actress could have been the reason for the mad rush.
one would have to search for bharatanatyam steps in the ballet. a lot of Odissi and mainly semi-classical dance steps were showcased.A good bold try on the stage in India i should say.
the dramatic dialogues (all in English) was a great asset. few scenes were very emotional and effective like the sringar rasa of ravana towards seetha, conversation between ravana and mandodhari and the description of Ravana himself and his lonliness during the night he was to die.
but, i would have appreciated if words such as "you old donkey" describing ravana by seetha would have not been employed.
the scene where Hanuman chalisa was chanted by the Vanaras was fabulous. a very good thought, were all the vanaras chanted it in their own style and voice.
i could find a lot of twists done to the epic by the writers of the play! Like hanuman had to introduce himself to Rama rather that Rama figuring it out by the Chudamani Hanuman wore. and like the agni pariksha of seetha, forced by lakshamana and not by rama!
the drama would have been well appreciated if movie songs were restrained from usage. songs like "Narumgaye", "Chinnamma chilamma", parineeta's song (i dont quite remember the title now), and few old malayalam and tamil songs were used for bharatanatyam dance was inept.
Mandodhari had a played her role very well and seetha suited to her character aptly.
the final war between rakshasas and vanaras was also very well choreographed.
though, the death of Ravana was not that very dramatic as was expected (though i also guess, this might have been purposefully underplayed )
infact selection of all characters has been regarded well and excellent sychronization.
on the whole, "Maya Ravana" was an effort in bringing classical and semi-classical together making it stand somewhere inbetween!
for review from chennai premier:
http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2007/07/09/stories/2007070950230500.htm
can also see:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2008/07/12/stories/2008071251821200.htm http://www.buzz18.com/interviews/movies/ram-was-blue-ravan-was-gold/78961/0
