The Kuchipudi dance drama Bhama Kalapam is often executed by three male dancers but Meenu Thakur chose to eliminate the features of purusha sampradaya from her recent recital. She spoke to Utpal K Banerjee
The small hamlet of Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh has its own presiding deity, lord Krishna, known more popularly as Muvva Gopala Swamy. As far back as the 16th century, the village had known its dancing brahmins, called Bhagavtars, who traipsed with jingling steps in a classical tradition — their own Krishna leela. This has been different and distinctive from other classical forms of the land, which preferred to depict Bala leela (Krishna’s childhood pranks) as in Bharatanatyam and Kathak, and Rasa leela (romance with Radha and milk maids) as in Manipuri and Odissi. The dancing brahmins in Kuchipudi hamlet enacted, in particular, the episodes of Satyabhama, one of the eight wives of Krishna, in its repertoire. Set by 17th century as dance-song-dialogue sequences by the connoisseur Siddhendra Yogi, these operettas became the exclusivity of Kuchipudi dance, not presented in any other classical style.
Bhama Kalapam has endearing aspects where Sutradhar (anchor) — executed generally by a musician in the wings — plays a key role, introducing audiences to the programme. The entry of the leading lady, Satyabhama, is made especially striking behind a screen: proud of her status vis-à-vis the other seven queens, proud of her long tresses and proud of her precious lineage. One would usually see Satyabhama making a pravesh-daru — introducing herself with great details, showing off her long plait over the curtain. The darus (self-approbations) are again special to Kuchipudi.
Following Natya Shasta’s kalahantarita nayika (heroine in a post-quarrel conciliatory mood), Bhama seeks to know from Madhavi, a shrewd and calculating companion, if she has recently seen her lord — who has not visited her for quite a while.
Sensing Bhama’s need of her services, Madhavi gets into a teasing mood, making Bhama confess her profound love for Krishna and her pining for him. Adopting Madhavi’s suggestion of penning a note to Krishna entreating him to visit her, Bhama describes graphically how the Cupid has been tormenting her with his floral arrows, how the light breeze ignites the fire of love in her body and how the buzzing of honey bees in the orchard causes her severe headache. Bhama entreats him to visit her. Krishna does come to visit her and after a bitter and particularly resentful interregnum — suspecting Krishna’s alliance with Bhama’s arch-rival Rukmini — there is a final reconciliation, but that is another episode that comes after an interval.
Bhama Kalapam, a Kuchipudi recital, was recently presented at the IIC by the youthful danseuse Meenu Thakur, disciple of guru Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao. Surprisingly, it was not only that the second episode of Krishna’s return-visit and the ultimate reconciliation was cut out altogether (perhaps for dearth of time), even the charming narrative device of pravesh daru, behind a screen, was done away with. In a normal Kuchipudi dance-show, Bhama Kalapam is often executed by three male dancers and it is considered essential performing at least once in a life time: for honing one’s skills. Meenu’s efforts at eliminating the features of purusha sampradaya (original male tradition) and following its anurupa (transforming the male style into female interpretation) was entirely praiseworthy but removing some of the essentials seemed a little pity.
Defends Meenu, “I’ll produce later a probable second part: to bring out the unsavoury yet captivating, fight-details of Bhama with Rukmini!” Regarding the difficulty of a northern girl with a Telugu text, she says with determination, “I’ve resolved to redo the gripping man-woman relationship-drama entirely in Hindi sometime in future!”