What better month than March to discuss women, their friendships, and their contributions to society?” asks Aneesha Grover, a 36-year-old Bharatanatyam dancer, who is set to perform an ode to women during this Women’s History Month.
Grover’s latest production, ‘Sakhi,’ explores the possibility of a friendship between Ramayana’s Sita and Mahabharata’s Draupadi. The production is overseen by Jyotsna Shourie, 72, Grover’s guru. The two women started a dance company in 2023 called Keelaka, which means ‘bond’ or ‘friendship’ in Bharatanatyam mudras. “My relationship with my guru has always been that of friendship. She understood me. I first met ma’am when I was six, and since then, we have learned, taught, and performed together,” says Grover.
Myths and dance
Their first collaboration was ‘The Birth of Jesus’ in 1996 when Grover was only eight. Organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in Rome, the duo, along with other performers, enacted the nativity of Jesus. “This was a fusion of many art forms; there was theatre to recreate the nativity scene, Bharatanatyam, and a live Christmas carol. But in the end, it all came together as one,” says Shourie. Impressed, the Archbishop Rev. Alan de Lastic invited them to perform in Vatican City. Since then, the duo, along with their team, has performed the set piece every year in December.
Grover, who has been performing for 30 years, was first introduced to a dramatised storytelling of mythologies and other stories through different sets such as ‘Unmasked’ on Ravana, ‘Krishna Chalisa’, and ‘Devadasi’, exploring the journey of a temple dancer. “The trick is, when you are dealing with a mythological or religious concept, you need to have a strong research team and consult theologians or experts in the field,” says Grover.
The women of the epics
While designing ‘Sakhi’, Shourie shares that they “had to be extra careful in formatting the production so that people are not offended by it”. The idea had been in their minds for a while.
Shourie had been interested in a telling of Sita’s story, and Grover, who had performed various set pieces on Draupadi, came together in 2013 for a production titled ‘Face to Face’. “We brought these two women face to face for the first time. The concept was like ‘Sakhi’, but there was no friendship angle. We just wanted to tell their stories and bring them together,” says Grover. Eleven years later, ‘Sakhi’ was born. “Although the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are from different periods, both women faced similar issues. They both had a miraculous birth, were married through a swayamvar, faced traumas, lost their palaces, wandered through the forest, but, in the end, they both emerged stronger and more powerful,” says Grover.
‘Sakhi’ is thus an attempt to take forward the idea of ‘Face to Face’, where they met for the first time, to the idea of a shared conversation. The fire, through which Draupadi was born and Sita was tested for chastity, serves as a metaphor for patriarchy in this production.
A fusion of art forms
The production has incorporated different art forms. While Sita, played by Grover, and Draupadi, by Nandita Kalaan, are both Bharatnatyam dancers, Lord Rama is played by Joe Mathew, who incorporates various dance forms into his choreography, such as hip-hop and contemporary. Sagar Vashisht, a theatre artist and Chhau dancer, plays Ravana, while contemporary dancer Benjamin Jacob plays Arjuna. The music is a collaboration between OS Arun, a Carnatic musician, and MadStarBase, a DJ and production company.
“This is the beauty of ‘Sakhi’—it uses different art forms and techniques to blend into a pleasing performance on a story that is still relevant. Patriarchy is still prevalent, and the issues faced by Sita and Draupadi still exist,” says Shourie.
‘Sakhi’ will be staged at Stein Auditorium, IHC, March 30,7.30pm