Jyotirgamaya

Soon after his return from England, Rabindranath Tagore and his brother Jyotirindranath, plunged into musical composition. Rabindranath, with his direct experience and influence of Western music and opera, immediately composed his opera Valmiki Pratibha (The genius of Valmiki) that quickly took its place in the repertoire. The composition, where melody and words had equal importance, had its roots in the special genius of Bengali music— the keertans, and like a master jeweller studded it with the gems of classical Hindustani raga-based music (ragasrayi) embellishing it with their own ideas and beautiful poetry. In addition, tunes of two English songs were borrowed for the drinking songs of the dacoit band and an Irish melody for the lament of the banadevis (wood nymphs).

Widely performed as a dance-theatre, dance-drama, to that effect drama, it remains as one of the few dramas of Tagore that has immediate and authentic appeal outside Bengal for its grandeur, vivacity, variety, vigour and wonderful gamut of styles and emotions.

Till date, Valmiki Pratibha remains as one of the most popular, most loved performance piece for dancers and for actors with a panoramic scope of choreographic and theatrical possibilities and spectacular collage of forms.

26 February 1881 was a special day in the life of Rabindranath Tagore. On this day was the first public performance of his opera Valmiki Pratibha in Jorasanko (ancestral home of the Tagore’s) with Rabindranath Tagore in the role of Valmiki and his niece Pratibha, as Saraswati. So good was Pratibha’s performance that Tagore changed his opera’s title from Valmiki to Valmiki Pratibha. And so remains Valmiki Pratibha as the most sought after opera-drama-dance piece.

To commemorate this date, the internationally reputed singer-actor, documentary film-maker, director, culture historian and teacher of Tagore’s music and drama, Debasish Raychaudhuri as Valmiki, presented a unique solo act Jyotirgamaya, based on Valmiki Pratibha. Conceived and directed by him and produced by Jyotirindra Moitra Memorial Trust, this master-piece was released by Bhavna Records (specialising in Tagore’s work) as a short film. It traces the path of transcendence of the notorious and greedy dacoit leader Ratnakar to the sage-like epic poet Valmiki said to be the author of the Ramayana.

Moved to pity by the grief of one of a pair of cranes (krauncha birds) after it had been shot by a hunter, Valmiki broke into the divine Sanskrit verse Ma nishada pratishtam tvamagama saswati samaha and thereafter composed the epic.

In Tagore’s version, Valmiki was moved by the piteous cry of a little girl caught by his fellowmen to offer her as a sacrifice to Goddess Kali, their very own deity (mother). He protests their decision, disbands the gang and wanders in the forests in search of a vocation. He suddenly sees the hunters aiming at the two birds and breaks into the verse.

Goddess Lakshmi appears to him, offers wealth and tries to convince him of its importance, but Valmiki by then a transformed person, embraces the enlightenment of knowledge. It was Goddess Saraswati who had taken the guise of the girl. Saraswati reveals herself to Ratnakar and as a boon in reward of his awakened sense of humanity, gives Valmiki the gift of song which would resound from land to land and echo in the voice of poets and singers. 

Debashish naturally followed the bard’s version and echoed it for the first time as a unique mono-act with innovative directorial brilliance and his powerful performance energy, fully unleashed. The echo of the song Daya koro anatarey, pleading for mercy by the girl—in Rohini Raychaudhuri’s voice—and the cruel smile on Debashish’s face was a memorable display of intense desperation amalgamated with torment, realisation and the final surrender to kindness with shifting changes of expressions.

An intuitively intelligent, sensitively interpretive film, it excels in three zones. The theatrical and dramatic executions by the actor at no point allows any shallowness due to the physical absence of the multicast, with an unmatched set of eye movements, facial expressions and his dramatic persona.

Cinematographic excellence and camerawork exploring light and shade creating a subtle, different ambience like the use of small earthenware oil-lamps, a shining ‘kripan’(sharp large knife) and the dark background of varying intensity with an interesting use of streaks and volumes of diffused light, and the sudden burst of fullscreen illumination at the point of transcendence, were some of the stunning visual treats.

Furthermore, casting in opera goes more by larynxes than by physical attributes. A highly acclaimed singer and a distinguished actor, Debashish carried the piece on his shoulders with a confluence of melody, words, rhythm, poems and theatre with highly realistic proficiency. Portraying shifting moods and challenges of different characterisation with confrontation of different performance and styles of singing and use of light and shade, he was successful in advocating a rarely seen combination of co-relation of acting and singing, poetry and music in a spectacular manner.

The songs of Valmiki were by Debashish. The playback singers were his daughter Rohini Raychaudhuri—an acclaimed singer who sang for Balika (the girl), Lakshmi and banadevis, and Hindol Nandi for the dacoits and hunter.

There was a group of young minds behind the production. The soulful music designing was by Surajit Das, DoP Arjun, assisted by Tathagata, edited by Sayantan Mukherjee. English subtitles Ritojit Mondal, production Rohini Raychaudhuri, artwork courtesy Swarup Swapan Chatterjee.

Jyotirgamaya has the distinction of personal style of the director Debashish Raychaudhuri who conceived it. The work, first of its kind, is refreshing and every minute becomes a memorable moment for the viewers by the stunning performance of an artist of a very high calibre. Jyotirgamaya was indeed a transcendence from darkness to light.

NITA VIDYARTHI

Chandalika

Rabindranath Tagore’s dance-drama, Chandalika sourced from a Buddhist legend highlighting the power of spiritualism as preached by Buddha, had been his launching pad for commenting on several issues needed for the existence of a healthy and happy society based on equality— be they men or women. The issues Rabindranath Tagore touched upon in his dance-drama Chandalika written in 1938 are relevant even today. Tagore’s protagonist of the drama is Prakriti—the daughter of a chandal, who belongs to the fringes of the caste system. Though sourced from a Buddhist legend, Ananda the young disciple of the Buddha is not the protagonist. The focal point of this dance-drama has been the existent inequality in our society, among other things. This inequality brings in its wake socio-economic, political and cultural inequality that exists in our country. Besides, the dance-drama has also commented on female sexuality. Today the world talks about subaltern history as well as women’s sexuality. The visionary poet had put forward these ideas for a healthy society in the early 20th century itself. 

Bharatanatyam exponent Sutapa Awon Pradhan chose to perform Chandalika with her repertory group to remind people of the message of Tagore. She skillfully conveyed his ideas with sensitivity. As a choreographer who understands rhythm and the beauty of dance movements and is able to interpret the language of the lyrics of Tagore with the subtlety of body-language, Sutapa Awon is a winner and has worked wonders.

As penned by the poet, every song in the drama, the dialogues, the mantras chanted were emotionally charged. All that was required of the choreographer to attain her desired goal was a careful understanding of the text and the layers of interpretations that it offers 

Sutapa Awon Pradhan has worked hard in her endeavour to portray the ideas of the dance-drama. She was able to engage the attention of the audience from the start to finish. The story is poignantly told when Prakriti, the protagonist is branded as an untouchable. As a chandal’s daughter she is the poorest of the poor and an outcast. The pathos of this awareness was brought out in the production. Her Prakriti was a rebel as the poet had intended.

Ananda, the young disciple of Buddha, passes by when Prakriti is near the well, chanting the Buddha mantra Jo sannisinno barabodhimule. She is at her most vulnerable moment of torment caused by her societal stigma of being a chandal’s kanya. The path of Buddha has taught Ananda the equality of all human beings. And that makes him ask her for water to quench his thirst. Her reply that she is the daughter of a chandal doesn’t cut any ice with him. His answer, “As I am so are you,” strikes a chord in her heart, and she falls in love. For the first time she realises her dignity and the place she deserves in society 

There was clarity in the renditions of these in dance. Tagore’s Chandalika is a powerful critique of all that ails our society. Prakriti boldly protests against the injustice that the caste system has doled out to a large section of the people, of which she is a symbol.

Chandalika also portrays Rabindranath Tagore’s ideas of female desire in an untouchable girl. Dance to Tagore was a vehicle through which contemporary ideas and predicaments could be conveyed to the audience. It should ideally bring about a change in people’s mind; our hearts weep for Prakriti.

Just as Tagore had intended, Sutapa had taken inspiration from the classical as well as other dance styles. Through dance he has expressed the female identity that defies accepted norms; this was brought out excellently in Sutapa’s rendition. As in his other dance-dramas, here too religion, poetry, music and dance merge.

In the dance-drama Chandalika, Prakriti is constrained by her socio-political, economic and cultural condition. The drama articulates Prakriti’s aspirations through rhythmic movements of her body. Her mother is portrayed as one who accepts the position assigned to her by society—it takes all sorts to make up this world. At her daughter’s behest, her magical powers bring Ananda, who is soaked in the teachings of Buddhism to Prakriti, to fulfil her lust, but seeing his lackluster image in the mirror shown to her by her mother, she undergoes a transformation. Prakriti had seen him with radiance of his enlightenment soaked in the teachings of Buddha and then to see him as an ordinary mortal for her benefit was a fall she could not imagine. She had loved a man who was sparkling bright, but what she saw in the mirror was the image of a man devoid of radiance. Love elevates her.

The audience is now in a dilemma. What was the primary message of the dance-drama? Was it all about Buddha’s teachings or was it about the dignity of a woman that Tagore has carefully penned?

Sutapa Awon Pradhan, the choreographer, had made use of the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, moulding it sufficiently to suit the beautiful lyrics and dialogues penned by Tagore. She used vigorous folk dances while casting a magic spell. The amalgamation of dance styles merged seamlessly in the drama. Music arrangement was by Kalyan Sen Barat. Vocalist Jayati Chakraborty who sang the songs of Prakriti had the effect of conveying anger, pathos, sorrow and serenity. Moumita Banerjee vocalised the songs of the mother, which was unique. Madhurima Das in the role of Prakriti melted our hearts. Sutapa Awon Pradhan in the role of the mother, showed how subjugation is taken for granted

Students of Nrityalok performed the group dances which gave fullness to the drama. Tarun Pradhan—Director of Sarabhuj was in-charge of stage designs, Gopal Ghosh’s light designs embellished the scene where magic The monk appears AVIJIT DASGUPTA was used to bring Ananda to Prakriti. Make-up man Bablu Mondal’s acumen brought out the uniqueness of the different characters.

I cannot at this point help but recall Sutapa Awon Pradhan’s choreography of Rabindranath Tagore’s Natir Puja at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium for ICCR, Kolkata in 2011 to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the poet. The poet himself had staged Natir Puja in 1926 at Jorasanko and filmed in New Theatres in 1932 (unfortunately all copies of the film got burnt). Then too, Sutapa had choregraphed a beautiful dance-drama, true to Tagore’s spirit, which is etched in my memory.

TAPATI CHOWDHURIE