Bhubaneswar: For this reviewer, and the theatre lovers inside Rabindra Mandap here where Satabdira Kalakar’s five-day 27th National Kalinga Natya Mahotsav is underway, it seemed some episodes from the Mahabharata were unfolding before them on the stage as the artistes of Purba Ranga, a theatre group from Assam, were staging play ‘Dronacharya’ on Sunday.
Though the play was in Ahamiya language, theatre lovers were seen remained glued to their seats till the last scene, thanks to the neat presentation style.
The play was about how Dronacharya, the great warrior and renowned archer of all time atoned for the sin he made by asking Ekalavya to sacrifice his thumb as his guru dakshina. He was waiting for the time to offer him an opportunity for atonement.
Dronacharya could hardly anticipate that Ekalavya, the disciple in disguise, would sacrifice his right thumb so easily to pay the teacher’s price (Guru Dakshina) on demand. He rather wanted to establish Ekalavya as one of the most ungrateful disciples ever in history who defied to pay the Guru Dakshina.
In a calculated move by Sri Krishna, Ekalavya got the rebirth from the holy fire (Yagya Agni) by name Dhrishtyadyumna, the son of the Panchal king Drupada.
Dhrishtyadyumna was sent to Dronacharya’s Gurukul (school) by king Drupada for mastering in archery with a strategic motive behind to prepare him at par with Arjuna to kill Dronacharya who once humiliated him.
Sri krishna, with his divine power, incarnated Ekalavya in the form of Dhrishtyadyumna to create the ground for atonement of Dronacharya for his inexcusable did of mutilation of Ekalavya.
The great Acharya, even after leading the the mighty Kaurava as commander, put his ultimate effort to make Dhrishtyadyumna an unbeatable expert in archery to kill himself ( the master) back in an inescapable battle of Kurukshetra ahead.
For Dronacharya, going through repentance after the Guru Dakshina of Ekalavya, there could be no better way for his Moksha (the release from the cycle of rebirth) but being killed by Ekalavya in the Dharma Yuddha.
The news of his son Ashwastamma’s death left Dronacharya in shock. He sat down in his chariot and started meditating. Drishtadyumna was waiting for this moment. He took out his sword and beheaded Dronacharya.
The epic Mahabharata, of course, figures out the names of Sri Krishna and Sakuni as responsible for the devastating battle, but the untold story rediscovers Dronacharya as the unequivocal hero to attribute the battle with real dimension of Dharma (religion) in the true sense.
A Sangeet Natak Akademi Award recipient and son of Padma Shri awardee Jatin Goswami, Gunakar Dev Goswami was excellent in portraying Drona’s character while three others-Seujpriya Goswami (Sri Krishna), Rishi Barman (Drishtadyumna) and Violina Hazarika (Kripi)-left no stone unturned to do justice to their characters.
The play was written by Mrinmaya Bhuyan while Gunakar Dev Goswami was it’s director. He himself being trained in Sattriya dance, he used the dance movements to make the presentation more appealing.
He also brilliantly handled the music direction and stage design parts. He put up a suggestive set for the play. While the music was operated by Diku Bharadwaj, light design was by Hemant Rajkumar.
While the play was first staged at Kushiyara Natya Mahotsav in Assam’s Karimganj in March 2023, it was it’s tenth show in Bhubaneswar.
The second evening’s lighting the lamp ceremony was attended by guests like MLA Babu Singh, Paradip Phosphate Limited’s corporate affairs head Sudhir Ranjan Mishra, eminent playwrights Shankar Tripathi and Prof (Dr) Narayan Sahoo.
Next, in the felicitation ceremony, thea personalities Chittaranjan Raymohapatra and Mukunda Satapathy and journalist Harapriya Prusty were felicitated with Satabdira Kalakar Samman and actress and singer Smt Sumati Panda was awarded with Gayadhar Samman.
