Deccan Herald

The Hindu

DANCE The opera based on Rani Abbakka's life was absorbing For someone who is regarded as India's first freedom-fighter against colonialism, it is ironical that Abbakka Rani is better known in the historical literature of Western Europe than in her own country. There has been very little said or written here about this intrepid queen of 16 th-century Tulunadu, who was an able administrator, expert in warfare, feminist, and great patriot who fought against and sank the dreaded Portuguese Armada. Fortunately, an enterprising team of artistes and art-patrons are beginning to change all that. Aravind Sitaraman and Usha Venkateswaran and their team have created an opera Abbakka Rani, the Queen of Spices. This superb multimedia production by What is India, premiered last week and was a successful attempt to make known Abbakka's achievements and her contribution to keeping India independent of foreign rule. Scriptwriter and producer Aravind is founder of whatisindia.com and a person with an abiding pride and interest in Indian history and culture. “We believe there is a need to spread awareness about the great Indian heritage especially among the youth.” Hence, they chose Abbakka Rani, who is an unsung queen and richly deserving of a tribute. The talented and much-respected Usha Venkateswaran, who has a long experience as dancer, teacher and choreographer, directed and choreographed this absorbing show. The opera which lasted around 80 minutes was a fluid and gripping narrative in multimedia of Abbakka's life. Commencing with an introduction in English by Soumya Aravind Sitaraman, there was a Sutradhar who spoke Kannada. he scenes unfolded to take us through the life of Abbakka, the magnitude of her achivements, and the times she lived in. Groomed by her maternal uncle Tirumala Nayaka, she became queen of Tulunadu with Moodabidri as her base and Ullal port as financial capital. A competent administrator also trained in warfare she kept the invading Portuguese at bay for over four decades often using ingenious methods. She even sank their Armada which was considered near-invincible by the rest of the world in those days. However, she was finally undone by the treachery of her estranged husband who had allied with the Portuguese. Though Bharatanatyam was the chief vehicle of expression, Usha also made intelligent and creative use of elements from Kathak, Kalaripayattu, and Rajasthani folk dance and even a dash of flamenco-inspired style, to suit the character and the occasion. The fight scenes stood out — they were intense, quick-paced, and fluid. An imaginative use of background graphics and video created by Soumya Aravind Sitaraman, and good music contributed to making the production vivid and interesting. The slender and graceful Chitra Arvind was impressive as Abbakka. With deft, precise movements and an expressive abhinaya which was never overdone despite the kind of strong emotions she was required to convey, Chitra brought Abbakka's character to life. Mysore B. Nagaraj played Lakshmanappa competently while Deepa Shivananda was convincing as Seeta (Abbakka's sister-in-law). Rupesh K.C. and Ujval played well the scheming Portuguese and Shekhar Rajendran was an effective Sutradhar. However, the initial background visuals (stills) could have done with captions (to make them more meaningful for viewers) and Abbakka's costumes could have been more eye-catching considering she was the protagonist and always occupying centre-stage (the dress was particularly dull in a middle-of-the-drama scene). The original music score of the production is by Jayanthi and Kumaresh, while Usha Kris is credited with the photography. The other dancers were Nagaraj, Nishant Aravindakshan, Prasanna Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Rajesh, Vishwa, Aparna Shastry, Aarti Mohan, and Josephine Savita. Lighting was done by Preetam Kumar. ARUNA CHANDARAJU