BENGALURU: Actor and Bharatanatyam performer Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai’s visit to the Aadimoolam Vetticode Sree Nagarajaswami temple in Kerala two years ago first sparked her interest in the possibility of a story about Lord Shiva, which later inspired her to create a dance-drama. For the first time, she will be performing ‘Thiruchitrambalam’ in Bengaluru, which is Pillai’s carefully- envisioned performance that will bring an ensemble of artistes and live musicians to Chowdiah Memorial Hall, on July 24. “Bengalureans are welcoming and open-minded.
But every audience is ideal to me… my job is to make sure they have a memorable time and take a bit of a story with them back home. I welcome all audiences, the critical, unresponsive, appreciative, and academic,” she says. Pillai has acted in multiple movies and has won various awards for her striking performances. She has also acted in two Kannada movies in the early 2000s with artistes like Vishnuvardhan. In this dance-drama, Pillai, along with her students, traces the stories of Lord Shiva who embodies wisdom.
“Shiva is abstract and as a philosophy, breaks and confines into various moulds. We traverse from Darukavanam to the Himalayas, trying to recapture the magic of these mystical places,” she says. Pillai will be travelling to other cities like Mumbai, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottarakkara, and Hyderabad for this grand performance. While talking about the process of making a dance-drama, Pillai says, “It is at times a creative, literary, and exhilarating process.
But some other times, it is frustrating with time constraints and deadlines. It involves reading, writing, acting, teaching, and producing.” The Padma Shri, Kalarathna, and Kalaimamani award winner began her teaching journey with one student in the year 1993. “I like to share my views with like-minded individuals, who are my students at the end of the day.
This creates a bond between a guru and shishya. The students at my dance institute are taught to be critical of themselves and appreciative of their peers while also learning the history of poets, their minds, and the meanings associated with the word ‘tradition.’ All of these are steps to learning,” she says. Although the presence of OTT platforms affects live performances, Pillai believes that she cannot complain.
“The canvas of cultural performances is small and few attend such shows. The audiences who come for dance-dramas do so to interact with others and be entertained in a trice. They spend quality time by choosing to be present,” she says. ‘Thiruchitrambalam’ will be staged on July 24 at 6.05 pm, at Chowdiah Memorial Hall. For details, visit bookmyshow.com