In tune with the Balasaraswati bani

Sushama Ranganathan’s nritta and abhinaya were simple but striking.

Sushama Ranganathan Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Sushama Ranganathan is the daughter and disciple of Nandini Ramani, a scholar and senior exponent of the Thanjavur bani of the legendary T. Balasaraswati, and her guru, Kandappa Pillai.

Sushama presented a themed Bharatanatyam recital titled, ‘Muttamizhil Murugan’ a compilation of margam compositions in Tamil addressed to Muruga directly as in the ‘Deva Devanum’ Sabdam (Ragamalika, Misra Chapu, Chandragiri Chinayya Naidu), ‘Idai Vida’ padam (Saveri, Misra Chapu) and in the devotional ‘Ka Va Va’(Varali) or indirectly as in the Khamas swarajathi (‘Maa Moha Lahiri’, Rupaka, Kadigai Namasivaya Pulavar), in which the hero is a devotee of Muruga. The Mandari tillana (Adi, Ponniah Pillai) also fitted into the scheme as Balasaraswati was inclined to omit tillana lyrics, as it ‘slows down the effect of a brilliant rhythmical conclusion.’

Visualisation for the pieces were by Late Guru Kandappa Ganesan (son of Kandappa Pillai) and Nandini. They continued the non-exhibitionist style. The entries and exits were casual — the dancer walks on to a silent stage, and waits for the music to begin, settles in then begins to dance. When the song is over, the dancer waits until the musicians finish, takes a bow and simply walks off stage.

But outwardly simple should not be taken as not being intricate. The nritta sequences were short and bursting with fire-power ; they teased the rasika and before you could figure out the rhythm, it was over. When quizzed, Nandini admitted that it was the magic of the eduppu, the start, that was all-important. Each jathi started at different places in the tala cycle, most often not in tandem with the song, so that the steps set in a particular nadai could finish on sama.

In the Kandappa Pillai bani, there is a strict code about the jathis — the opening trikala jathi would be in chatusra, followed by jathis in tisra, misra, khanda and sankeerna nadais, in that order, all before the mukthayi swara. It was interesting that despite these fireworks, the recital remained ‘saumya,’ calm. The nattuvanars and mridangists obviously did not make a show of their rhythmic prowess with dramatic or dominating renditions; M.Venkatakrishnan and K.R. Venkatasubramanian were faithful to this muted artistry.

The abhinaya or mime was also without frills; there were no extra repetitions with tattu mettu in the varnam until the mukthayi swara sahitya. The padams were also low-key, whether the situation was a hurt and angry heroine who has been cheated on by Muruga or as a devotee asking for Muruga’s blessings. Sushama was quietly convincing.

Sushama, dressed in a white and red sari costume, similar to the one worn by the doyenne in one of the few picturisations available in the public domain, was well in tune with the no-fuss performance. She is a dancer who is soaked in the ethos.

Accompanying her was G. Srikanth (vocal) and flautist J.B. Sruti Sagar, whose melody was inspiring through the swarajati to the thillana, Varali being the pick, besides the Saveri.