Veteran dancer Vyjayantimala showed how nuanced expressions enhance the appeal of a performance

Dancer Vyjayantimala Bali.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

Over the years, Bharat Kalachar has featured musician-dancer Vyjayantimala many times during its Margazhi Mahotsavam. This year was not different either, as the sabha had organised her special lecture demonstration ‘Abhinayam’.

Undaunted by the cold evening breeze, the audience was looking forward to enjoying an aural and visual treat.

The curtains went up amid applause and the veteran, clad in a bright pink saree was seated on the dais with her orchestral team.

Welcoming the audience with her warm and bewitching smile, she began her performance with the ‘Andru ivvulagam alandhai’, the 24th verse of the Tiruppavai. Girijashankar Sundaresan rendered it with aplomb.

A Thodi raga padam ‘Ella arumaigalum ella perumaigalum,’ by Ghanam Krishna Iyer in Adi tala came up next. This was followed by a ragamalika-talamalika Nondichindu, which depicted the story of lord Chokkalinga, who volunteers to work on behalf Vandhi, an old woman, to carry sand to stem the floods in the Vaigai river, when a Pandya king issues an order that all his citizens must be a part of the restoration work to save Madurai from a deluge. When the king’s guards find Shiva sleeping, they cane him. But the impact was felt by everyone, including the king. The veteran’s experience shone here when she conveyed the beauty of the lyric, each time when it was repeated, through different facial expressions. The evening drew to a close with ‘Rangapathikku jaya mangalam’, depicting Andal’s love for Ranganatha.

Be it Andal Nachiyar, Shiva or a devotee, Vyjayantimala could convey the story and the underlying rasas with grace.

The orchestral team had Gayathri Sasidharan on the nattuvangam, Saraswathi Vasudevan (narration), T.V. Sukanya (violin) and Guru Bharadwaj (mridangam).