Contrary to the trend of presenting stars and stalwarts of Indian classical music and dance at the 22-year-old annual Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award festival, the ongoing edition of the event has showcased the future stars. And the second evening of the festival on Wednesday belonged to two such young and acclaimed artistes who won over the audience.
US-based Bharatanatyam dancer Navia Natarajan opened the evening with her solo recital that featured two of her own choreographies. While the first one – Parashakti – delineated the two extreme aspects of the Hindu goddesses, both as the creator and the destroyer; the second one described the love of the Nayika (the heroine who is a passionate devotee) for lord Nataraj. An earthy touch to his human-god love story came out as the most touching part of her concert that was accompanied by live orchestra.
“I was a teenager when I watched Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra in my home city of Bengaluru for the first time. He was amazing both as an artiste and as a human being and I was touched the most by his persona then. It is a very special feeling to perform in this festival that is staged in his memory,” shared the microbiologist who preferred to be a full time dancer and who divides her time between USA and India for more than a decade.
Known as a child prodigy, Mumbai-based young tabla player Ojas Adhiya – often billed as the “Junior Zakir Hussain” – received standing ovation from the audience for his electrifying solo recital. Recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Prativa Puraskar from the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi, he was mentored by Bollywood’s celebrated music composer Kalyanji. Siddhesh Bicholkar rendered him support on the harmonium.
“This festival has brought almost all legends, stars and stalwarts of Indian dance and music – from Vyjayantimala Bali, Birju Maharaj and Hema Malini to Hariprasad Chaurasia and Jagjit Singh - to Odisha during the past two decades. Thus, I decided to care more for the future stars who deserve our due attention and patronage,” explained festival director Ratikant Mohapatra, son of the legendary Guru, who is an acclaimed Odishi choreographer and percussionist.