Moham Attakalari in association with Department of Language and Culture, Govt. of Telangana, presented ‘Prem Raqs Rasa: Dancers of Golconda’ at the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University auditorium on 5 March 2022, which was well appreciated by the audience present. The distinguished guests Mamidi Harikrishna, Director, Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana, Telugu poet, painter, writer, translator, historian, film maker, and film critic; Liby Benjamin, President, CTRMA; Anuradha P Reddy, Convenor, INTACH, Hyderabad and Aviation Historian; and Dr. P Rama Devi, Professor, University of Silicon Andhra, Kuchipudi artist and founder of Sri Sai Nataraja Academy had a word of applause for the beautiful presentation.
As is customary, the evening’s performance began with ‘Ananda Ganapathy’, a composition of Kavalam Narayana Panikker and choreographed by Padma Shri Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, set to music by Bijeesh Krishna.
The dance ballet ‘Prem Raqs Rasa: Dancers of Golconda’ which was conceptualized, scripted and choreographed by Dr. Mythili Maratt Anoop though presented in the Mohiniyattam style brought out the crux of the stories of Bhagmati, Taramati, Premamati and Bala. Every scene of the ballet is worth remembering. Be it the Golconda King falling in love with the dancer, or the Sultanate of Delhi wanting to marry the dancer and make her the queen. Kudos to the artists and Guru Mythili for the dance ballet which had glimpses of other dance forms like Kathak, Bharatanatyam and Kalaripattu apart from Mohiniyattam.
Speaking after the dance event, Dr. Anuradha Reddy, had stated that she was a little apprehensive when Dr. Mythili had mentioned the subject to her, but she expressed her happiness about how it was handled. On the other hand, Dr. P Rama Devi too had praised the presentation, but she called for more of characterizations in future presentations. The other distinguished guests too appreciated the presentation and emphasis on the stories of love, harmony and fealty through brief episodes from tales of dancers that have endured in history, literature and collective memory.
The Theatre direction was by Eugien Jos Chirammel, Urdu Dialogues by Rafiuddin Qadri, directed by Idara-e-Adabiyat Urdu, and writings and talks by Kamalakar Pasupuleti, with commentary by Mahesh Menon, voice-over artist that floored the audience. The source of history and legend was writings of Syed Mohiuddin Qadri Zore (Golkonde ke Heere, 1937).
In the second part of the programme, Varnam a composition of Thrissur Mohan Kumar and set in Saaramathi Raagam was presented, in which ardent devotee Manjula’s devotion to Guruvayoorappan was exhibited. ‘Paripahimam Hare’ Padam spotlights “Venisamhara” or braiding the hair of Draupadi followed. The finale piece Thillana choreographed by Dr. Mythili in Brindavani Raagam written by Balamurali Krishna and rendered by Sri Sudev Warier was an icing on the cake.
The music was recorded at Adithya Recording studio, with artists being Bijeesh Krishna (Vocal), Karthik Krishna (Flute), Ranjitha (Vocal), Shesham Ramana (Flute), Dr R. Srikant (Percussion), Miriyala Anil (Keyboard), and Rayaprolu Sudhakar (Veena). The dancers for the evening were Mythili Maratt Anoop, Challa Harshita, Hridya, Sherli E, Sreeja Gopakumar, Aishwarya, Raj, Niya George, Avanthika Anoop, Sangeeta Nair, Unnati Tiwari, Sreedevi, Mavila. The actors who essayed the role of kings were Danny Kumar Azad and Shaik Mosin, Jasson. Gullapudi Raman Kumari, Odissi artist and founder, Dancing Dolls was the Master of ceremony.
