Kalahetu, founded by Kalpana Verma, a senior disciple of Pt Birju Maharaj, presented their annual event Sabrang-2016, at the Meghdoot open-air theatre of the Sangeet Natak Akademi on 1 November. With Benaras, as its theme, it showcased two scintillating performances of Kathak from Benaras Gharana, featuring young talents like Vishal Krishna in a solo and the Mishra Brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Mishra in a duet performance.
The gifted grandson of the legendary Sitara Devi and nephew of the dancing cine-star late Gopi Krishna, Vishal, who reminded dance lovers of the vibrancy of both the Kathak stars of yesteryears; took the Sabrang-2016 evening to its climax. Accompanied by Kaushal Krishna on Tabla, Vishal opened his Kathak performance with Devi Stuti, composed by Sitara Devi in raga Marwa set to Drut Ek-Tala, interspersed with Kavitts of her Guru and father Pt Sukhdev Maharaj.
This was followed by the traditional repertoire of Natwari Kathak, the speciality of Benaras Gharana set to Teentala. The umpteen variety of just the opening Bol “Ta Thei” paved the path of his rich repertoire, before he proceeded to the Amad and Paran-Jodi-Amad with “Dhatak Thunga” in Tistra Jati. Then there were the Dupalli and Tipalli Parans, comprising the Bols (mnemonics) of Pakhawaj and Tabla so typical of this Gharana of Kathak. There were also nuanced “Ladi” of the “Traam” Bol, created and composed by Sukhdev Maharaj and the typical “Badhaiya Paran” of Sitara Devi.
For the Abhinaya segment Vishal chose an Ashtapadi from the Geet Govind of , the 12th century Sanskrit poet Jayadeva, where Krishna is depicted as the Dheer-Lalit Nayak pining for His beloved Radha. This immortal song of Jayadeva was choreographed and taught to Vishal by the renowned Odissi danseuse Guru Madhavi Mudgal, who had also been a Kathak exponent originally. The mesmerising Abhinaya and the amazing virtuosity of this charming youngster left the audience spellbound.
Sabrang-2016 had opened with the Kathak duet by the Mishra Bandhu Rs Saurabh and Gaurav, after Pt Birju Maharaj lit the auspicious lamp and showered his blessings on the young performers of the evening. Accompanied by Shubh Maharaj and Rajnish on Tabla, Pt Ravishankar Mishra on Bol-Padhant, Pt Dharm Nath Mishra on Vocal and Neeraj Mishra on Sitar; the duo opened with Shiva-Stuti.
Their traditional repertoire had Amad, Chhoot ki Uthan, the Pakhawaj Bol-Bandish, and a variety of Tode, Tukde, Paran and Chakkardar Tihai, but the Khand Jati footwork was really special where they fitted the 5 beats and its multiples in the 16 beats of Teentala, altering the stress point to different Matras, with flawless finish. The quick-witted youngsters could improvise promptly whatever Shubh Maharaj challenged them on Tabla, to the extent that he had to stop playing Tabla to applaud their brilliance in this regard. They also showcased a couple of delicate nuances of Ghoonghat ki Gat. The only minus point was their exceeding the time limit, which left not enough time for the other performers.
Kalahetu also launched the debut Hindustani vocal recital of Mehboob Hasan of Dilli Gharana in between the two Kathak performances, who presented raga Puriya Dhanashri. He was ably accompanied by Zakir Dhaulpuri on Harmonium and Shahbaz Shakeel on Tabla.
By Manjari Sinha
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