KALIDAS FEST'06

Pt Bhatt, Chandran enthral audience

Jan. 15th, 2006

By Shabnam Bhowmick

‘Surer jharnadhara’, meaning cascade of sur was a concept formulated by Rabindranath Tagore. Audience at the Dr Vasantrao Deshpande Hall on Saturday lived every bit of the concept when Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt bathed them in the music of his Mohan Veena. The occasion was that of inaugural day of Kalidas Festival, 2006, organised by NMC and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation.

Pt Bhatt performed during the second session on the day. He played the Mohan Veena, improvised version of Hawaiian Guitar. He has modified his guitar by adding several chikari (drone strings tuned to the tonic), and eight sympathetic strings tuned to the scale of the raga being played, which ring out in the background when their note is struck on the main strings. Pt Bhatt began with raag Maru Behag, using the instrument to its full capacity. The instrument can afford pure classical abstractions as beautifully as any other plucked instrument of Indigenous origin which is now enjoying pride of place in the Galaxy of India’s concert instrument today.

Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt fondled with the Mohan Veena like a mother fondling her child: she knows ways to make the child smile sweetly and also to get aprolonged giggle from it. Pt Bhatt created an unending euphoria of music with an expression of proud mother writ large on his face. He later sang a lulaby composed by himself. Pt Bhatt signed off with his Grammy Award winning composition. Pandit Bhatt was ably accompanied by Ram Kumar Mishra on tabla whose confident rythms created a whole new experience for the audience. Mishra, a highly talented artist kept his tabla sublime and overpowering - as need be.

Actress and dancer Sudha Chandran performed at the first session of the inaugural day of the Kalidas Festival 2006 on Saturday. The moment the Bharatnatyam danseuse entered the beautifully illuminated and exceptionally well-designed stage, a single word jumped to mind- dazzling! Every set up was perfect for a leisurely winter evening that marked the beginning of a classical musical journey of five days. Sudha began her performance with Shiv vandana. Young dancers Meera Mani and Anusha Hegde accompanied her.

Meera Mani’s command over abhinaya and nritya is worth a mention. Sudha’s command over the nritya was obvious. She danced with ease. Her face was a playground of emotions during her presentation set to raag Malika on a composition by Sant Tulsidas- “Shri Ram Chandra kripalu bhajaman...”. Abhinaya is clearly her forte. Sudha, the wonder girl of India is a trend-setter in every way. She gave a touch of improvisation by infusing a subtle element of ‘Devdasi’ in the costumes and the jewelry of her disciples. Most beautiful of the presentation was a Meera bhajan set to raag Bhim Palash. Considering Sudha Chandran’s iron-strong willpower and the strength in her personality, the audience waited eagerly to see how she portrayed Draupadi in the chir-haran scene. Sudha’s Draupadi was meek and helpless woman- which she characterised with domineering prowess. The concluding presentation could well be called another trend-setter- for the first time in the history of 10-year old Kalidas Festival, an artist danced to a song from a movie. Sudha performed on the title song from her autobiographical movie, Nache Mayuri.

Earlier, PWD Minister Anil Deshmukh, Air Marshall S K Chaturvedi, Collector Sanjay Mukherjee, Municipal Commissioner Lokesh Chandra, Divisional Commissioner Anand Limaye and Regional Director of MTDC M Zanzad inaugurated the festival by lighting the traditional lamp. Anil Deshmukh formally announced the inauguration of the event. Renuka Deshkar compered the show.