A timeless tale

Makarand Deshpande and Niladri Kumar in a scene from Krishna presented by Ansh Theatre Group

The story of Lord Krishna and Radha isn't new; it's an age-old tale of romance, friendship and devotion that most of us in India have grown up with. Actor, writer and director Makarand Deshpande, who's always had Krishna on his mind, has now reimagined this popular narrative for a play that explores the duo's last meeting. And he's bringing his story to Prithvi Theatre this weekend as a drama-music jugalbandi, called Krishna, with musical maestro Niladri Kumar. Ahead of their performance, we caught up with Deshpande, who'll assume the role of a Puranic sutradhar, as well as the characters. Edited excerpts from an interview.

Theatre has changed considerably in the past year. How have you been coping with this time?
Workshops, classes and online talks were the only ways to keep in touch with theatre in the past year. It helped me reach out to people I would have other-wise not been able to. How-ever, I didn't do any online theatre; I felt it was too complicated. It's like perform-ing in a war zone. I figured it was best to wait the period out, read up and work on ideas. And that's how Krishna happened, too.

How did you develop the script for Krishna? Can you give us a peek into the story?
I have a beautiful idol of Krishna at home, so he's always been on my mind; [more so] since I did the play Gandhi in December. I was shooting for an interna-tional film in Indonesia in January this year, when one night I couldn't sleep. I feel that when you can't get sleep, you should do what you are best at, and so I started writing. That night I wrote the first few pages of Krishna. I finished writing and proof-reading during the film schedule.

I wanted to depict the last meeting of Radha and Krishna. There are so many narratives about them. According to most versions, Radha and Krishna met for the last time in Vrindavan. As a writer-storyteller, I took some liberties and wondered what if Radha, now old, comes to meet Krishna, after the Mahabharat is over? What if she meets him in Dwarka; what will happen then? In the play, the storyteller will then tell her a story too, of Mira. That's when she'll realise that in the future, there is a lover, who loved Krishna as much as she did.

How does Niladri Kumar's music fit into the play?
Niladri and I have worked together previously for another play, Patni. In Krishna, with him playing the sitar and zitar live - he becomes Radha, Dwarka, Vrindavan and Mira for me. I enact the story, and he hears it and translates that into music. This is the adbhut rasa of the Navarasas. Niladri is one of the stalwarts in India right now, who seeks to break conventions. Our rapport is such that we don't do regular rehearsals; ours is a performance from the word go. We both enjoy complementing each other.

On: March 20, 6 pm and 9 pm; March 21, 5 pm and 8 pm
At: Prithvi Theatre, 20, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road.
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Cost: Rs 500