Raat Shyam sapne mein aayo, bhar aaye nainan, dhulak gayo kajra.Lord Krishna's life has always been a source of inspiration for poets and writers. It is for that reason that the story of his life has been told and retold in epic, song and dance form by innumerable poets in every possible Indian language for centuries now. And yet, there is something so magical about this mystic god that each creation takes a new form.The Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, in Delhi, has successfully re-created the magic in its three-hour dance drama on the life of Lord Krishna. The show was divided into two parts. While the first part dealt with the more popular Leelas of Krishna's life like Maakhan Chori, Kalia Daman, Maan Leela, Govardhan Leela, Ras Lila and Kansa Vadh, the second part of the show dealt with the role of Krishna as a statesman during the Mahabharata war.And by concentrating on the lesser known aspects of Krishna's life, Shobha Deepak Singh has once again proved her mettle as a fine director. She lets the dance drama, which starts with Krishna Janam slowly build on the Leelas, finally taking a steep turn into the second part of the play, where one can see a clear demarcation between the Krishna of the first half and that of the second half, the Chakradhari Krishna. What is remarkable is the way in which both KrishnasSwapan Mazumdar (in the first half) and Ravi Chauhan (in the second half)control the audience with their powerful body movements.At the end of the play, Gandhari curses him to die as a mortal. Krishna poignantly assures her that as long as he is alive, she will not be childless, for every warrior who died in the war was him. It was he who was born age after age to re-establish Dharma on earth.Adding to the aura of the play was the music by the late Pandit Shiv Prasad, Shelley Dutta, Barun Kumar Gupta and Shobha Mudgal, rendered beautifully by Shanti Sharma and Vinay Bhinde. Manohar Singh voiced the male dialogues with great power. The choreography by Shashidharan Nair and light and designs by Tapas Sen showed effort that was worthy of appreciation.
