Disappointing portrayal of navarasa

Vyjayanthimala Bali presented the navarasas or the nine basic emotions through padams, javalis and krithis in different languages like tamil, kannada, telugu, Malayalam and sanskrit. This noted danseuse and actress of yesteryear is well past sixty, but her stage presence stands undiminished, as do her energy and enthusiasm. At the end of her programme she declared, "If I get such an appreciative audience, I can keep on dancing." Bali's style where the beat is not forgotten even during the abhinaya passages was evocative of a tradition that was slower paced and less forceful, and enjoyed with more quietude and less stress.

The items were enjoyable in isolation, but did not quite correlate to the rasa being portrayed. There seems to have been some confusion in this regard. Especially in the 'hasyam' piece, 'Neematale mayanura' in Purvikalyani ragam, where a woman is angry with her man for refusing to keep up his promises of gifts, there was sarcasm, there was anger, but where was the laughter? Similarly in 'Varugalamo Aiyya' in Manji ragam, misra chapu talam by Gopalakrishna Bharati, the hapless Nandanar begs to be allowed into the temple to get a better glimpse of god. There was pathos represented, and the fear of reprisal was incidental, not the prevailing mood. It cannot be construed as an example of 'bhayam.' So too veeram portrayed in Thyagaraja's saranga ragam kriti, 'Emi dova palkuma yikanu ni' did not seem appropriate.

Sringara in Mysore Lingaraj's composition in Neelmabari ragam, 'Sringara Lahiri' started off Bali's programme on an inspiring note. Her description of the nayika and her beloved Shiva overflowed with grace and she radiated a mood of happiness. The very same Shiva was later made the subject matter of disgust in the Ninda Stuthi by Purandara Dasa in Bhimplas ragam, 'Yentha cheluvage magalanu kottanu Girirajanu nodamma' where all of His attributes were dismissed with repugnance. The dancer's mobile face and her agility about the stage were most pleasing. Her maturity and dignity carried the programme. This was in spite of the fact that the vocalist, Bhavatarani was too piercing in her rendition to add to the rasa-anubhava. Indira Rajan's aggressive style of conducting the programme was furthermore too harsh on a senior dancer like Bali. The supporting crew of Adyar Balu on the mridangam, K.R.Suresh on the violin and Nanganallur Sivakumar on the flute kept up the rhythm and the melody admirably.

Karuna rasa was presented in 'Karuna shaivan yendu thamasam Krishna' in Sri ragam, Adi talam on Guruvayoor Krishna by Iraiman Thambi. An incensed Shiva in the ragatalamalika piece 'Sri Kailase nadati purahare' was a convincing portrayal of 'raudra.' The music composition for this was by Bali. Adbuta was depicted in Kalyani ragam padam by Ganam Krishnaier 'Paar engum paarthalum paarama purushan.' The recital ended with a beautiful kriti in Sama ragam, 'Shantamu leka saukyamu ledu' by Thiagaraja re-iterating the importance of tranquillity. The dancer would do well to remember that even an evergreen star could diminish her flawless reputation with simple acts of carelessness.