When Gandhari, Kunti and Draupadi meet

Have you ever thought what these three women characters of Mahabharata felt about each other? Find out in the dance drama Trikon-the war within that promises to show these characters like never before

Gandhari never protested once when her son Duryodhana humiliated Draupadi in public. Would Gandhari's intervention have prevented Draupadi's cheerharan? This is what set Singapore-based choreographer Gayarati Sriram wondering. Her urge to understand how the epic Maharabhata would have turned out if the women were given the freedom of expression has resulted in the dance drama Trikon - The War Within.

From left to right : Gauri Gupta as Gandhari, Gayatri Sriram as
Draupadi & Shalaka Ranadivi as Kunti perform in Trikon-The War Within

Produced by the city-based Mudrika Foundation for Indian Performing Arts and Shrutilaya Dance School, Singapore, this performance promises to be a seamless presentation of dance and theatre. Shalaka Randive from Singapore will be directing the theatrical part while Sriram will be choreographing Trikon along with Prabhu, the director of Mudrika Foundation.

Sriram shares that the play revolves around the righteous Gandhari, the implacable Kunti and the tempestuous Draupadi and shows how Mahabharata would have been different had these three women ever followed their hearts. "Trikon-The War Within is a take on Mahabharata from female perspectives. It is not about the events that led to the war. The performance is more about the inner turmoil faced by these women through the period," says Sriram, who would also be playing the role of Draupadi.

Each of these characters are based on three gunas or qualities of nature, rajas (creation), sattva (preservation) and tamas (destruction). Kunti represents sattva while Draupadi and Gandhari are the faces of rajas and tamas respectively. Sriram reveals that Gandhari's silence and inability to voice her opinion on the wrongs that take place around her bring out the trait of sattva while Kunti's calmness in dealing with whatever she foresees borders the principles of sattva.

Describing Draupadi as the one with verve and enthusiasm, Sriram says, "We look at their relationships with each other. I feel they were in situations where they must be having a turbulent relationship with each other. We shall see how what they thought, felt and reacted."

However, Sriram adds that the script strictly adheres to the grammar of the epic. Trikon, according to her peeps into the hearts and minds of these women asking questions like how did Draupadi feel when she came to know that she will be shared by five husbands or how it was for Kunti not to touch her husband for years and bear sons of Gods. The play also will portray the much debated relationship between Draupadi and Lord Krishna, who would be the Sutradhar or the narrator seamlessly weaving the tale. Sriram believes and hopes that the audience will empathise with Trikon as the fate and lives of these three women still holds relevance in the present time and space.

"There is no event or action that is not there in Mahabharata. It has all vice and virtues of the contemporary world like treachery, hatred and love. There is good and evil prevailing together even now," says Sriram.
Bharatnatyam blended with Kathak, Kalaripayattu, folk forms with a touch of contemporary dance will be used to narrate the story of Mahabharata like never before, claims Sriram. Both dance and drama will be incorporated in showing episodes like the burning of Pandava's wax house Varanavata and more in this production which features about 50 performers from Bangalore and Singapore.

Where Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram
On July 8, 7 pm
Call 9844242890
Tickets are also available at Gangaram Book Bureau, MG Road and Bakers' Hut, No.26, 9th Cross, Malleswaram
For Rs 500 and R 250