The saying “There is no perfection, only beautiful version of brokenness” fits seamlessley in the life of the virtuoso Pandit Ravi Shankar. The maestro had shards of unforgettable moments lived to the fullest — tasted every bit with passion, joy, dedication, with a tinge of tragedies and regrets.
The Museum Theatre, on Friday evening, exuded the hues of this legend’s life through a bioplay, which seemed like a quiet conversation between the legend himself and the audience. The director Gowri Ramnarayan believes that “drama thrives on conflict and paradox.” She says that Pandit Ravi Shankar’s life had them all. Personally, Gowri was deeply fascinated by the musician and had known him since her childhood. She says, “The press had focused on the tumults, triumphs, and tragedies in his life. His autobiography laid them bare. How could he not fascinate me?”
The main character donning the role of Pandit Ravi Shankar was a window to his self reflective journey — his early life in Banaras, his relationships with his brother Uday Shankar, his learning period under his guru, his romantic relationships and obsession with women, his marital life and affairs, his dysfunctional relationship as a father, his journey towards triumph, and his last phase of surrendering. The play encapsulated the different phases of his life as a narration, in the best and simplest way to show his most vulnerable parts to the audience. In the most metaphoric way, Gowri intended the play to be minimalistic. The orchestration of the play with the music of the sitar in sweet and painful cadence, dance, and visuals, together added interpretations to the character’s narrations, drawing contours to the maestro’s intricate emotions. Gowri says, “ I believe that suggestion is more powerful than a statement. I also think that every element in a play should serve multiple needs. This widens the scope of dramatic possibilities for the director and actor. Since the narrative arc in “Enchantment” has the protagonist reminiscing about his life, how can it not tremble with tantalising evasions, smudges, concealments, and blurrings?”
The presence of the Sutradar (facilitator) made the subtle conversations with the audience hearty with commentary on his life decisions, pointing out the failings and tragedies, answering the questions crossing the minds of the audience. In Gowri’s words, “The stage manager is not only the narrator, but commentator, player of cameo roles, sometimes the voice of the hero’s conscience, and his subconscious psyche.”
His detailed musical training in Maihar under Ustad Allauddin Khan for seven years, pushed Ravi Shankar to his limits, mastering sitar and developing his unique style. This story told with music reflected not just the rigorous training, his patience, and dedication, but also a complex relationship between him and his guru. The play also hovered over his personal life that was intricately tangled with his relationships and family dynamics, through his conversations with the women in his lives. While on one side the play focused on the fraught relationship he had with himself, on the other hand, the spotlight was on his musical journey that kept soaring. The title ‘Godfather of World Music’. What else was beyond this attainment?
But the maestro surrendered before all the fame and limelight. In the end, his life is just another revelation — of tribulations, triumphs, bare and real. The applause echoed loudly, not just for the heights the maestro had attained, but for touching the hearts with a humane and sensitive portrayal. As Gowri puts it across, “We join the maestro on his emotional journey, trying to understand how genius is born in conflicts and uncertainties, empathise with his human struggles, identify with his vulnerabilities.”