BENGALURU: One of the most important characters in the Mahabharata, Draupadi has been portrayed in different shades and interpreted differently by various writers. Bengaluru-based artiste Anjana Chandak, through her one-woman show, is attempting to showcase the character from the epic as someone who questions happenings around her. This is part of the five-part series, Panchkanyas, depicting Mandodari, Ahalya, Tara from the Ramayana, and Draupadi and Kunti from the Mahabharata.
While this show was to be premiered in Pune recently, a last-minute decision was taken to shift the location to Bengaluru. Organised by the Sandeep and Gitanjali Maini Foundation, the launch show will be held on Thursday. The monodrama is in Hindi, because Chandak felt the narration would be more powerful, especially since she thinks in the language. “There is not even a word in English. Otherwise I didn’t think I would be able to do justice...the Sanskrit and Hindi words bring out the powerful dialogues,” she says, adding that she hopes that the audience embraces her work in a way they had never expected. In fact, the performance, which will travel to Chennai on Sunday, has almost 450 slots booked.
“I’ve never found language to be a barrier in my works,” says 48-year-old Chandak, who incidentally isn’t a trained performer. However, it was on a whim that she decided to face an audience a couple of years ago. Chandak has opted for minimilistic style owing to its fading popularity. “Everyone wants music, content, acting...so here lies my challenge, in holding the attention of people just through dialogues and voice modulation for one whole hour. At the same time if I miss even a line, the flow is lost. There’s absolutely nothing to distract the audience,” she says.
Much thought goes into her costumes. For instance, for Draupadi, Chandak will be dressed in a yellow and orange saree to symbolise that she was born out of fire. “But that’s not mentioned in the script anywhere. Considering it’s a one-woman show with all eyes on me for one whole hour, it’s important to look into these details,” she says. The research process, which began in January, has been exhaustive, with Chandak having to refer several books and versions before finally putting together a script. “Everyone’s interpretation of the character is different, so it’s been a lot of exhaustive work,” she says, adding that the first draft of her script was 125 pages, which now stands at 25.
As she was rehearsing, Chandak found many scenes to be relevant to this day. For instance, while practising the scene of Draupadi’s disrobing, she found her comparing it to Nirbhaya’s case. “I just imagined what she must have gone through. Almost 5,000 years later, it is still relevant,” she says.
While Draupaudi’s story has been re-told several times, Chandak believes that a storyteller can change the way a story is told though different points of views. “These women are characters who come across as strong and held their heads high when the situation demanded,” she says.
Draupadi will be staged on March 12 at gallery g, Lavelle Road.