Monday, July 23, 2007

Saavu Dhyeyakilla

Saavu Dhyeyakilla (No death for Goals) @ HN Kalakshetra 21st July 2007

Staged by : Darpana
Script, Screenplay, Lyrics, Dialogues and Direction by : K Sri (K Srinivas)
Lights : Jagadeesh
Make-Up : Ramakrishna Kannarpadi/Vijay Kumar
Costume Designer : N.MangaLa
Sets and Properties: Vasu/Abhijith/Manjunath

Sounds like an inspiring title right?? Yes it is!! Its a tale of patriotism and goals.. goals which dont have death! But not of the present times wherein people are forgetting what true patriotism means and are turning towards fanaticism in the viel of patriotism! Its a tale of burning desire of one man to free his motherland first from the clutches of a foreign invader and then to cleanse or remove autocracy. And how he achieves this with his great tact and knowledge of politics and statecraft forms the crux of the story. Yes its about Chanakya (famously known by this name, Vishnugupta or Kautilya as he has been referred to in history) who has given us "Arthashastra".

Arthashastra is "a book of political realism, a book analysing how the political world does work and not very often stating how it ought to work, a book that frequently discloses to a king what calculating and sometimes brutal measures he must carry out to preserve the state and the common good." Centrally, Arthaśāstra argues for an autocracy managing an efficient and solid economy. It discusses the ethics of economics and the duties and obligations of a king. The scope of Arthaśāstra is, however, far wider than statecraft, and it offers an outline of the entire legal and bureaucratic framework for administering a kingdom, with a wealth of descriptive cultural detail on topics such as mineralogy, mining and metals, agriculture, animal husbandry and medicine. The Arthaśāstra also focuses on issues of welfare (for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine) and the collective ethics that hold a society together. - Wikipedia
This story is about the life and growth of Vishnugupta from a normal teacher in Takshashila to a powerful and tactful prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya. Vishnugupta faces immense humiliation from Dhanananda, the ruler of Nanda dynasty when he approaches him with pleads about safegaurding the nation from the invader from Greece, Alexander. Vishnugupta takes an oath that he would not to tie his long hair(shikhe) until he overthrows Dhanananda from the throne. In the process of searching like minded people who are passionate about protecting the country against invasion, he chances upon the young Chandragupta who impresses Vishnugupta/Chanakya with his leadership qualities. Chanakya decides to mentor him and vows to make him the emperor of India. He also gets some more people as aides to Chandragupta like Simharana, Alakanandindi, etc., With his tactful thoughts, wit and usage of all the political tactics like using spies, bribery he manages to break the unity amongst the Nandas and overthrows Dhanananda thus completing his oath! Chandragupta Maurya is made the king of Magadha. He then wants to make Amatya Rakshasha who is the most trusted and ablest minister of Nanda Kingdom as one amongst the ministers of Chandragupta Maurya. To get this thing done, he again hatches a plot against Amatya Rakshasha in acquiring his ring and using it to prove that he is not loyal to the Nandas. This incident is famously known as Mudra-Rakshasa in literature. Finally Chanakya manages to bring Amatya Rakshasha under Chandragupta Maurya and leaves Magadha for Takshashila.

This complex story of politics, deceit, plots, visha-kanyas, statesmanship and changing loyalties which lead to a stable and strong empire has been enacted by Darpana troupe. And they have done their best in doing justice to this long and hard to enact tale. Scripted by K Srinivas the drama has got its own defining moments where Chanakya swears on Dhanananda to overthrow him, the plot to kill Bhadrasena, defeating Dhanananda, and finally the Mudra-Rakshasha story are where the actors have excelled. K Sree(as K Sreenivas is known popularly) has given some modern touch to the play with usage of modern Kannada language at places. Also in the war sequences, the usage of Kalaripayattu (Kerala's traditional martial art form) gives the viewer a visual treat. Costumes by N Mangala are truly imaginative yet realistic enough to give a feel of the ancient Magadha. The story told from the point of view of the rivers of Magadha Kingdom - Ganga, Sindhu and Jheelum, where the three rivers are personified and act as sutradhaaras for the play is really innovative. Music by Saikiran leaves a perfect impact at the right time though I felt the drums were a bit loud at times.

Coming to the actors, its Shesha Murthy who plays Chanakya who leaves a big impact with his thundering performance. Malatesh who plays Simharana is very good in his bodylanguage and narration as usual. Nirmala C who plays Alakanandini leaves a good impact. Nanjunda Murthy Rao (whom we better know as Mukta Nanjunda) has given one of his best performances as Bhadrasena. Others who leave a good impression are Rakshit Shetty who plays Chandragupta, Lokesh Gowda as Dhanananda and Santosh Shivling as Nipunaka. Totally a great team work in enacting this story! The lights and makeup are truly apt and well suited for the scenes and hence the characters.

On the flip side, at places prounounciation by some actors were not that clear. May be due to the poor acoustics of the auditorium! I personally feel the team should work on this aspect to improve the impact of the play. Knowing the vastness of the story and large number or characters and references to people and understanding the difficulty of the performers (some being amateur performers or budding artists) their effort shows off in bringing out their best.
All the best team!! Will look forward for your performance again!!


A note to the people who want to watch this play! Brush up the history about Chanakya or else you might feel lost!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Ninade Nenapu

Ninade Nenapu

Audio Release by Sony BMG
Music Director: Mahesh Patel and Ram Sampat
Director: Madan Patel

Sony BMG enters Kannada music scene with Madan Patel's venture for his son Mayur Patel's "Ninade Nenapu".

"Yaare Sakhi Ninna Sakha" sung by Udit Narayan and Anuradha Sriram and lyrics by Aanand V. A mediocre duet. Anuradha Sriram returns with her shrill voice! Udit is good as usual.

"Ibbaniyali Mindide Preetiyali Toydide" sung by Chitra and with lyrics by Vijaya Karnataka Editor Vishweshwar Bhat is a melodious number with good lyrics.

"Heegeke Nange Nenapaaguve" sung by Kunal Ganjawala and lyrics by Kaviraj is a slow number with good music. Sounds like the title song of the movie.

"Karagi Karagi Neeraagi HOde" sung by Chaitra and Satish Aryan and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is a sensuous number with good music and great singing by Chaitra.

"Manasu Idre Maarga Anta" sung by Satish Aryan and lyrics by Nagendra Prasad is about hardships in life and how to face them. Satish has got a different voice but definitely needs a tune up.

"Dayamaadi Baa Preeti" sung by Chaitra and Nitin Shastri and lyrics by Nagendra Prasad is a dance number with fast pacy music and good rendition by both the singers.

"Ibbaniyali Mindide Preetiyali Toydide" sung by Sona is diferent to hear in the voice of Sona. Quite different from Chitra's version.

"Heegeke Nanninda Doorade nee" sung by Rajesh Krishnan and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is a typical viraha geete. Rajesh puts his heart into his rendition.

"O Nanna Geleyane Hrudaya Koogide" sung by Sona and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is about memories of lover. Sona disappoints in this song.

"Naane Kane Ninna Sakha" sung by Rajesh Krishnan and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is a short version of Yaare Sakhi Ninna sakha.

Savi Savi Nenapu

Savi Savi Nenapu

Audio Released by Jhankar
Music Director : R P Patnayak
Director : Santosh Rai Pataje
Producer: S V Babu

Prem's next movie Savi Savi Nenapu where he appears in his new avataar has got a good music by R P Patnayak.

The album kicks off with "Saviyo Saviyu" sung by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal with lyrics by Nagatihalli Chandrashekar. The lyrics are too good and music is soft and grows slowly. Sonu and Shreya put life into the song but I feel Sonu's pronounciation could have been better".

"Haadu Haadu" sung by Prem himself with lyrics by Hridayashiva is a fast number. A youthful number. Prem doesnt impress with his singing.

"Savi Savi Nenapu" the title song rendered by R P Patnayak and Sunita is a great one with respect to the music and lyrics by Jayant Kaikini. A melodious song. Sunita is great with her fresh voice.

"Naa Nana Nanana" sung by Karthik with lyrics by Hridayashiva is a rip off from an English number. Karthik impresses with his rendition. Its all about youth, josh and love! Good mix of western beats and classical instruments.

"Kaanuva Notave" sung by new comer Apoorva Sridhar and lyrics by K Kalyan. Good to hear Apoorva. She has got a good song to start up her career. The music switches from slow to fast to slow. Good orchestration of the song. Thanks RP for giving us a new singer!! The lyrics are about departing from lover and the rememberances associated.

"Nenapu Nenapu" sung by S P Balasubramanyam and lyrics by Hridayashiva is the best number in the album. A slow song with great music.Rememberances of the girl - thats what is all the song is about. Captivating lyrics indeed. We get to know why SP is still the best!

"Sooryanu Ee Divasa" sung by Rajesh Krishnan and Sunita and lyrics by Jayant Kaikini is about the sun and the morning mood he creates. The tune reminds me of "Happy Birthday to you" tune!