Heri’s artistic endeavour is a cultural journey that perhaps began with a need to push the boundaries of her classical Kathak background. The movements comprised an original vocabulary that took inspiration from the templates of Kathak and Kalaripayattu, sprinkled with a generous amount of gymnastics. Her contemporary movements retain the expressive aspect on a subtler plane, and in this excerpt there was one section, a tumri ' Abke sawan ghar aa,' a poignant piece about a woman longing for her lover, that was wholly devoted to abhinaya. On the one hand the endeavour simplifies the stylisation of Kathak, while on the other it is more demanding in its physical discipline.

Several inputs made up this multi-media production. As Heri remarked during the interactive session after the programme, “This production is a combination of the varied perceptions of love of different artists.” Besides the dance, the music by Amit Heri was varied, some of it fusion, some live, some recorded and some traditional. Tender lines about ‘the meeting of eyes’ of Khusrau established the mood of romance early on, and a contemporary poem opened the possibilities of love between the same sex. The superb visual imagery was yet another powerful tool, with excellent artwork provided by the famous painter Yusuf Arakkal. In addition, the aspect of costuming by Wendell Rodricks, provided ethereal images of the lovers’ interaction.

The overall effect was one of good taste and finesse, though few reservations remain unanswered. The duet of young lovers presented with a cynical attitude was discomforting; and totally contrary to general optimistic idea of the production. The other point of debate is the depiction of love between two women. Strong words were read out loud, but was there any inhibition in its presentation? Because the movements of the dancers were floor level for the most part of that section. The visual reference of two people lying on a bed was also too deliberate to be aesthetic.

The Chennai premier had seven dancers in all: Brinda Jacob, Anitha Santhanam, Shabari Yusufi, Aparna Kolar, Janrdhan Raj Urs, Balaji Akul, and Heri, their graceful and well-conditioned bodies leaving their own impressions of well-rehearsed movements and disciplined execution. They covered the stage spaces in motion with their controlled movements often inter linking in the process. The visual imagery though impressive, proved to be a distraction as the screen was mounted on one side of the stage.

The last in the tableau was a contemporary dance sequence interspersed with short Kathak passages in Krishna’s Raas-Lila in a drupad dhamar composition of 14 beats in Yaman raag, though the roles of the gopis and Krishna were all probably purposely blurred. Sai Venkatesh provided the excellent lighting effects.

The finale of the evening was ‘Ushas’ an amalgam of Kalaripayattu, the martial art from Kerala and Thangta, the dance with swords and spears, to fusion music played by Amit Heri and his group, and the Chendai played by another dancer.

Amit Heri wowed the audience with his racy jazz music with its Carnatic overtones. Especially popular were the latin rhythmic ‘Beyond The Three Words’ and the ‘Peace Song’ based on the Hamsadwani ragam. The last number based on Abhogi was striking for his excellent strumming on the electric guitar. On the bass was Chennai’s Keith Peters, drums, Hamesh, and flute Butto Patnaik.