Dressed in a resplendent blue-green costume, Dr Smitha Madhav, along with 40 of her disciples, brought to life a decades-old tale once heard only through the airwaves.
At Ravindra Bharati, the stage transformed into the majestic court of the Vijayanagara Empire as Sirikakolanu Chinnadi unfolded, a poignant story of love, faith, art, and power under the reign of Sri Krishnadevaraya.
Originally penned in 1969 by the revered poet Sri Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Sirikakolanu Chinnadi (The Maiden from Sirikakulam) tells the story of Aliveni, a devadasi and ardent devotee of Sri Krishna. Set against the opulence and contradictions of Krishnadevaraya’s court, the narrative explores Aliveni’s unwavering dedication to classical art and her spiritual path, a devotion that ironically renders her vulnerable to manipulation by those closest to her.
“In this work, Veturi garu raises timeless questions about faith, power, and the role of art in society; questions that resonate just as deeply today,” Dr Smitha notes.
The piece was first brought to life in 1973 as a radio musical, performed by a legendary ensemble that included Pendyala Nageswara Rao, Voleti Venkateswarulu, Srirangam Gopala Ratnam, Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao, and Kandukuri Chiranjeevi Rao.
Smitha’s own introduction to Sirikakolanu Chinnadi came through the legendary ‘Kala Tapasvi’ K Viswanath, a long-time collaborator of Veturi. “The first time I heard the radio version, I was completely taken in. I kept returning to it, not just for the musical richness, but for the emotional and moral depth with which the characters are portrayed,” she recalls.
From Aliveni’s loyal friends Chanchala and Jalaja, to the cunning Rangaji, the smooth-talking Marthanda Sharma, and the emperor Krishnadevaraya himself; every character in the story, Smitha notes, is deeply human. “It reveals their flaws, their loyalties, and how society can at once venerate and exploit its own,” she says.
Ultimately, for Smitha, Sirikakolanu Chinnadi is a story of hope. “It shows that a society capable of contradictions is also capable of reflection, redemption, and justice. That justice may be fragile and hard-won but it’s worth striving for. Aliveni and her companions remind us of that. I’m immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to bring this timeless narrative to the stage, and to the incredible team that brought it alive with me,” she shares.
The choreography, Smitha admits, was both challenging and unexpectedly fluid. “The difficulty lay in the rule I set for myself, not to alter a single note of the original music. Typically, in dance productions, we adapt tunes to suit entrances and exits. Here, I had to work entirely within the structure of what already existed,” she adds. That meant crafting choreography to match exact timings and transitions, often with no gaps between scenes. “We had near-instant scene changes but we took that as a creative challenge,” she shares.
Ironically, the ease came from the sheer brilliance of the music itself. “It felt like the compositions were tailor-made for the story. The ragas were perfectly aligned with each emotional moment — be it irony, sorrow, or intensity,” she says. She points to a powerful sequence where Rangaji cunningly approaches Marthanda Sharma about Aliveni’s fate. “The raga there captured so much; the irony of Rangaji’s proposition, the impending tragedy, and the emotional weight of the scene. It was just masterful,” Dr Smitha explains. Reflecting on the original music team, Smitha says, “Whether by design or instinct, they chose ragas that carried the rasa effortlessly. As a choreographer, that meant everything, I didn’t need to force or fit anything. It all flowed naturally.”
From concept to execution, Sirikakolanu Chinnadi was more than just a revival, it was a profound dialogue between the past and the present, expressed through rhythm, movement, and devotion.
— Story by Vennapusala Ramya