Musical tribute to Tagore

RANCHI: It was a small excerpt from Mahabharata, the encounter of Arjuna with the Manipur princess Chitrangada, but Rabindranath Tagore converted it into a dance drama, making it immortal. It became evident here on Thursday when a dance troupe staged the dance drama here to mark the bard's 152nd birth anniversary.
Written by Tagore, when he was 31 and later converted into a dance drama, "Chitrangada" is considered lyrical expression of love, illusion and conquest and one of the strongest gender statements made in literature at that time.
Sramana Bhattacharya posing as Kurupa (Chitrangada) who was raised by king of Manipur as a prince instead of princess, expert in warfare and archery was attracted by the grandeur of Arjuna (Mohar Chakravorty) when he was out on a 12-year-exile and had reached Manipur. When Arjun refused her love proposal, disheartened Kurupa went to the deity of love Madan (Chandrayan Mitra) seeking beauty.
She was blessed with all the attractions of a princess and came in the avatar of Surupa (Shreoshi Chatterjee). Chitrangada in her new form was successful in seeking Arjun's attention who was not only attracted by the beauty but was also looking for Chitraganda , the warrior princess.
The dance drama has every element of love, illusion and suspense which kept the spectators glued to their seats. While Shukla Das Gupta and Paromita Chaudhary sung for Kurupa and Surupa Chitrangada respectively Subhasis Mitra and Prabir Kumar Lahiri were the playback singers for Arjun and Madan respectively.
Staged in a perfect lighting and sound arrangement, the age-old dance drama that have continued since generation
seems fresh to the new generation and has the same captivating charisma for the seniors who have witnessed the show several times. "While credit should be given to the performers on stage but Tagore has a signature to all his compositions that make the shows bear a high standard of quality everywhere," said Kamal Bose, a professor at St Xavier's college.