Class Act

She rates it the toughest and one of the most touching dance dramas written by Rabindra Nath Tagore,one that remains relevant in today’s time and age. “Many people thought it was not possible to stage Chandalika. The challenge of doing the impossible made me take it up. The play carries a strong social message that even after 60 years of Independence,untouchability is still a part of reality,” says Suchitra Mitra,renowned Bhartnatyam dancer talks about the dance drama that was staged at the Tagore Theatre on Monday. For the last one month,Mitra’s team of 18 dancers and 15 musicians have been working together to create a splendid yet soulful performance. The 50-minute performance has live music by Nasreen and Subhashish Hazra,special light work by Vijay Giri and a special act and choreography by Malay Bhattacharyya,a Kathak dancer from Kolkata,here for the performance.

“This year marks the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore. His works present a unique blend of Indian poetry and spiritual mysticism,which we strive to recreate,’’ adds Mitra.

In Chandalika,Tagore talks of untouchability,the play centring around Prakriti,an untouchable girl,excluded by society because of her caste. One day,a Buddhist monk Ananda,tired and thirsty,asks her for a drink of water. Prakriti informs him about her low status in the caste ladder,leading Ananda to remind her of the universal equality of humans. This incident gives a new lease of life to her. Prakriti falls for Ananda and asks her mother to practice her mystic powers on him,which has rather undesirable consequences. The conflict between the material and spiritual and Prakriti’s remorse at the end of the play makes Chandalika (‘the wretched’,a term for the lowly untouchables),a vivid and gripping dance drama.