Shrimant Yogi enthralls audiences during the 30th Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival

Bhubaneswar, September 6: The second evening of the 30^thGuru KelucharanMohapatra (GKCM) Award Festivalorganised by Srjan – Guru KelucharanMohapatraOdissiNrityabasa along with the able institutional support of Sri Sri University (SSU), Cuttack, witnessed a captivating portrayal of the emotional and inspiring narrative of Maratha king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, here at Rabindra Mandap.

The seven-day premier classical dance and music festivalof Odisha began on September 5 soulful and moving Ghazal recital by eminent singer Shri Chandan Dass. With their trademark punctiliousness, Srjan commenced the proceedings for the second evening at 7 pm, with the auspicious lighting of the lamp. The esteemed guests for the evening included Guru ArunaMohanty, President, OdishaSangitaNatakAkademi and Eminent Odissi Exponent; ShriSurendra Das, National Secretary, Chinta O Chetana; and Guru RatikantMohapatra, Director, Srjan, and Dean, Faculty of Arts, Communication and Indic Studies, SSU.

The audiences were enthralled by the production, Shrimant Yogi, a chronicle of the life and times of Shivaji Maharaj by renowned Mumbai-based Bharatanatyam exponent ShriVaibhavArekar and his ensemble, the Sankhya Dance Company. Led by the direction and choreographyof ShriVaibhavArekar who espoused the titular role, dancers SwaradaBhave, SacchidanandNarayankar, GautamMarathe, Mrinal Joshi, Devayani Samant, VaishnaviPuntambekar, SwaraliGhanghurde, PrajaktaShinde, and EeshaPinglay, set the emotions, valour, and gravitas of the narrative with commanding stage presence and energy.

The production captured the cultural, social, and emotional impressions of the Maratha king, and the societal milieu of the time. In addition to chronicling the life and times of Shivaji Maharaj, the presentation was replete with scenes of war and conflict, juxtaposed with the portrayal of the character’sdutyand sacrifices, and the establishmentswarajyaand dharma. Anexploration of the multifaceted layers of Shivaji Maharaj, the production was a principled and impressionistic dance expression.

The image of Shivaji as a karma yogi was artfully conveyed through the 75-minute production, aided by the arresting light designing of Shri Sushant Jadhav. ShriVaibhavArekar was ably assisted in the direction by Swarada Bhave, with concept development by Pradnya Agasthi; dramaturge andcostumesby Sushant Jadhav; rhythm design and music inputs by Satish Krishnamurthy; and music composition and vocals by Manoj Desai and Karthik Hebbar. The production featured the poetry of legends Sant Ramdas, KaviBhushan, Kusumagraj, SubramaniamBharati, and ZaverchandMeghani, adding immensely to its rich sahitya. The performance of ShriVaibhavArekar and Sankhya in Shrimant Yogi left audiences moved as the dramatic narrative unfolded to its culmination.

After this evening of Bharatanatyam, the festival will witness the Carnatic vocal recital of the versatile and celebrated exponent KalaimamaniDr.OS Arun on its third evening, who will be accompanied by Dr. Badri Narayanan, Shri MS Venkatasubramaniam, and Shri E Martin. The subsequent days of the festival feature renowned musicians Pt. Rakesh Chaurasia, ShriOjasAdhiya, and ShriAmbi and Smt. Bindu Subramaniam, Kathak exponent Guru AshimbandhuBhattacharjee and the Upasana Centre for Dance, and Guru RatikantMohapatra’s very own Srjan ensemble, in addition to the prestigious award ceremony on the final day.

Srjan, with theinstitutional support of Sri Sri University, Cuttack aims to foster the crucial inter-connectedness of academia and performing arts in classical realm. The entire festival is meticulously curatedand designed by Guru RatikantMohapatra, with seamlessprogramme execution by Shri Debiprasad Mishra. ShriMrutyunjayaRath will be conducting the proceedings for the week-long event. The 30^th GKCM Award Festival has received donations from MGM Minerals and Shalimar Chemical Works Pvt. Ltd. Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and the Department of Odia Literature Language and Culture, Government of Odisha, the gold sponsor of the festival is Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd., and its festival sponsors include Shalimar’s Coconut Oil, NALCO, SBI, IMFA, Priyadarshini Silks, Paradeep Phosphates Limited, and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. The Royale Midtown Hotel is its hospitality partner. Dharitri and Orissa Post, and Narthaki.com are the media partners and web partner respectively.