About Bhima
Synopsis
Drawing inspiration from Ashok Malhotra’s Child Man, MT Vasudevan Nair’s Rendam Muzham and Jeanette Winterson’s Weight, the play
explores the paradoxes and ironies in the life of the second Pandava Bhima.
Who is Bhima? What is his hunger? Who feeds it? What are the choices available to a hero? What is the fate of a strong man in contemporary times?These are some of the questions around which the key narrative of the play evolves.
Journey of the play
The project was conceived by Vivek Vijayakumaran in 2011. He began his training in Kutiyattam in 2012 with the support of the 'Inlaks India Theatre
Award -2012'
Kutiyattam is a classical theatre form from Kerala with a history of more than 2000 years recognized by the UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral
and Intangible Heritage of Humanity"
The experiment has been to see how an urban contemporary actor can train in a classical form to be able to innovate. The objective being that the
soul/ essence of the form (Kutiyattam) is still retained"The ways of retention being subjective to the experiential knowing of the
form by the actor.
Arriving at a live musical score has also been an integral part of the creative process with Sachin Gurjale, who also trained briefly on the
principle of percussion in Kutiyattam where the role of the music is to
pronounce and enhance the actor’s actions.
Kutiyattam teachers: Shri Sooraj Nambiar & Shri Venu G (Navarasas)
Guide : Shri Kanhailalji, Smt Sabitri Ji (Kalakshetra ,Manipur) & Shri Adil Hussain
ARTICLES
