Kathak exponent Sangita Chatterjee brings her production Yagyaseni — The Ultimate Oblation to the city, following successful performances in Delhi, Kolkata and Palakkad. This solo dance theatre piece is based on Draupadi from Mahabharata. Sangita is an empanelled artiste of ICCR, IWCF and SPIC MACAY and has performed in several cities within the country and abroad. These include Sopan Festival by Sahitya Kala Parishad (Delhi), Nalanda Nrityotsav (Mumbai), India International Travel Fare (Taiwan), Indorama Festival (Bangkok) and many more. Before the artiste prepares to perform the piece for the first time in the city, she lets us in more on the production, why Draupadi inspired her, her upcoming projects and more…
“Yagyaseni is a very unique production, which is very rare in Kathak because it’s a solo dance theatre production. Yagyaseni is a novel written by Pratibha Ray, a Jnanpith awardee and it is based on the life of Draupadi. I always wanted to do something on Draupadi because I was very much inspired by the character for a very long time. Before I first premiered it in Delhi in 2019, I took two years to research on the character. At that time, I came across this novel written by Pratibha. The production is not exactly based on the novel because I had my own take on it. This is my interpretation of Draupadi,” Sangita begins.
Through the production, Sangita aims at looking at Draupadi differently. “She is always shown as someone who is a victim. Of course, she has been a victim, but I have tried to focus on her strengths and being a woman, I have looked at the different roles she has played; as a wife, as a mother, a daughter and as a woman. I have named the production Yagyaseni — The Ultimate Oblation. Oblation in Sanskrit or Hindi is aahuti. In my interpretation, if Mahabharata is a dharmayagya, then her life will be the aahuti (oblation).
One aspect that not many have explored is the relationship between Krishna and Draupadi. “This was something I always wanted to work on because Krishna is always associated with Radha or Meera. In my production I have tried to explore that relationship. I don’t want to give more information about that aspect because I want the audience to come and see that,” she adds.
One of the main reasons behind the product ion i s because Draupadi inspired Sangita. She believes that there is no point in taking sympathy by just being a victim. How the person takes a stand, makes the difference. Sangita always found Draupadi’s character as a very strong one. She has consciously taken decisions where her dignity would not be jeopardised. That is what Sangita liked about Draupadi and this inspired her.
The production comes to Bengaluru after successful performances in Delhi, Kolkata and Palakkad. When asked if she brought any changes to the production every time it was staged, the dancer says, “Not really and very surprisingly because most artistes tend to bring changes in the same production when it is performed multiple times. But this is one piece that I haven’t touched at all. Whatever response I got after every performance was very satisfying and at least till now, I haven’t felt the need to change anything in it. Maybe later, depending upon how my audience is responding to it. Wherever I have performed, the audience has been touched by it. My aim is not to get lots of applause or standing ovations but to touch the hearts of the audience.”
“My next piece which is going to be a group production will premiere in Delhi on August 4. This production was originally a 10-minute dance film called Mirage, that I made during the successive lockdowns. Now, the film is going to be performed as a full-blown production. After my performance in
Bengaluru, Yagyaseni will be showcased in Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar,” Sangita signs off.
Entry free. May 26, 7.30 pm. At Bangalore International Centre, Domlur
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