Celebrating Manmatha Danseuse

Sudharani Raghupathi is all set to bring in the festive spirit of villages to the Chennai stage
Colour, drama, dance and music combine in a vibrant way to present something that is jocularly likened to “a fried idli as a side dish for a cocktail palate”. This is what danseuse Sudharani Raghupathi feels about today’s cultural ethos. “The idli has always been in our traditional cuisine — but if it is relevant and enduring today, it is because of the way it is being presented adapting and suiting changing tastes.
Similarly, the Mammudha or Manmatha festival is still happening all over Tamil Nadu in the villages.” That is what her production this year is all about — about how Lord Siva and Parvathi need to unite for the birth of Muruga so that Sooran can be destroyed. Lord Indra deputes Manmatha on this unifying errand and in the process is burnt to ashes and resurrected as love. And this is being narrated using the components of traditional theatre with Theruk-koothu, Poi-k-Kaal Kudhirai, Karagam, folk and classical Bharatanatyam.
Talking about why she chose the theme, Sudharani says, “After witnessing the annual Manmadha Vizha in my own village, I thought it is time we bring it alive as a theatre presentation on stage here. And we have on the audio track wit 25 artistes on voices and orchestra, 60 tracks with original repertoire from four genres - folk, Carnatic, western classical and Theru-k-koothu.”
According to her, the research itself took over five months with inputs from several experts. Besides 10 dancers from her school, she also has five other professionals from different schools of Bharatanatyam.
Talking about her production, she says, “The primary objective of Mammudha is to attract a decent audience and appeal to different age groups. To sell a solo margam in this fast-paced life is tougher, when compared to a theatre production. Since Mammudha has a collective contribution of many gifted minds, it is a homogeneous blend of aesthetics and beauty.”
Ask her about the Margazhi season and she says, “The Margazhi fest is even superior to the La Scala or Broadway shows of America. I don’t think there is any other festival equal to this in the world, with so many artistes participating. With more sabhas entering the scene, I do not see the graph going down. It gives a lot of options for the rasikas.”