Directed by Lillete Dubey, Jaya fuses different forms of rock music, Kalari, Kathak and mantras which lend the ancient epic contemporary charm, or as Dubey puts it, “it is Mahabharata for the 21st century”. “I am not looking at the epic through some radical lens. It is the Mahabharata as we know it, in all its facts and all its authenticity. It is accessible because the words are contemporary,” she adds.
On stage, Yudhishtira, the eldest of the Pandavas, leads his four elder brothers and Draupadi on a pilgrimage. One by one, his wife and his brothers fall, with only Yudhishtira left standing. The massive white curtains fall back and the audience senses a shift. It’s a flashback to the past establishing the power dynamics of the warring cousins. Lynne Fernandez’ lights frame the actors as their identities are established the Pandavas led by Yudhishtira and the Kauravas led by Duryodhana.
Written by Sandeep Kanjilal and with original music composed by Ashutosh Pathak, the play comes alive as a musical. Dubey recalls that when Kanjilal came to her with the script, she was very excited at the thought of the fusion of an old text such as the Mahabharata with contemporary language and lyrics set to rock music. “There’s something very interesting in that combination. It is challenging and what it does is that it brings an element of freshness to the epic. It is interesting to hear Yudhishtira suddenly belting out a song or Krishna singing a rock ballad,” she says.
Dubey had first staged this play way back in 1998. Although it had a good run, it shut prematurely; Dubey doesn’t want to discuss the reasons. From the original cast, only Vikrant Chaturvedi who plays Duryodhana and Asif Ali Beg who plays Shakuni are in the new show. The set, too, underwent a change. While the initial set was a massive open-air extravaganza, Dubey has toned it down to make it more viable to travel to other cities. The other notable change is the music by Ashutosh Pathak, which was created from scratch. “I wanted the music to sound fresh and revamped,” she shares.
While most viewers in the audience would be familiar with the ancient text, it is the staging of the narrative which kept them spellbound. A sprinkle of gold dust appearing on the round dice table each time Yudhishtira places a bet only to lose it to the Kauravas and the wild, raucous laughter from his cousins, is riveting. When Draupadi’s sari is pulled by Dushasana, the intelligent use of lighting combined with dancers on stage keeps the illusion of the garment becoming longer and longer. The chanting of Sanskrit mantras at various intervals reminds the audience that while it is a staging in rock musical style, it is very much an Indian epic at heart.
Kalari and Kathak entwine to bring alive the battle sequences between the Kauravas and Pandavas. One of Dubey’s favourite scenes, however, is the one in which after a number of warriors are killed, the women, including Draupadi, Gandhari, Kunti and others appear in white, singing ‘Krishna, no more war’. It is a poignant moment, which the director says reminded her of Palestine and the Ukraine-Russia war.
“Man’s desire for power, greed and land continues. We read about the women and the children affected by war but nothing has changed. It is still so relevant,” she states. Similarly, Draupadi’s humiliation brings to the fore the harassment women go through in their daily lives every day. “She calls out the men for their double standards, for hiding their evil and lustful intentions behind the veneer of nobility. These lines took on a new meaning for me when I staged the play,” she adds.
If at all the play is from anyone’s point of view, Dubey believes it is Yudhishtira’s. The final act sees a return to the present, when Yudhishtira’s brothers have fallen one after another. There’s heaven waiting for him but his brothers are in hell. Which side will he choose? And are heaven and hell real or just a state of mind? Dubey’s Jaya questions as much as it answers.
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