Singing the scriptures

A mobile phone shatters thepin-drop silence but with one glare Lilette quells its ringing — ironic, considering that the project is being sponsored by BPL Mobile. Then, the rehearsal starts. Amit Behl who plays Karna has not turned up, so a stand-in (Vikrant Chaturvedi who actually plays Duryodhana) takes centrestage. Devika Bhojwani (Kunti) takes off her walkman and joins him. Finally, all the world is a stage. Karna prays and then turns to Kunti for her blessing. Suddenly, Kunti stops and becomes Devika. She says, "This is the wrong music."

Back on stage after 10 years, this is a sort of comeback for Devika and she is fiercely involved in every aspect of her role.

Lilette starts her search for the tape again and the stage is set for take two. The scene begins. Kunti opens her mouth but again not one note comes out. She says, "This is not my music." Deja vu. Again tapes are forwarded and rewound, and the right note is hit. This time, Kunti finds her voice and in song, pleads with Karna to side with the Pandavas. Next on therehearsal chart is the famous war preparation scene from the epic. Arjun (the real Arjun is not in and again Vikrant comes to the rescue) is doubting his reason for going to war against his brothers. Until, Krishna comes in and dispels his fears. At another level a dance sequence is unfolding to depict Arjun’s turmoil and placed at an even higher level is the sutradhar Sanjay (played by Karnatic vocalist E Krishnan), holding the thread between the complex narrative and action. The focus shifts back to Arjun and his reluctance to shed blood. Krishna starts to sing his rationale, "You and I shall be friends forever." He moves to the centre and dancers surround him. The choreographer Mahesh Mehbubani comes on to the stage and starts to show the dancers what to do, while Krishna continues to impart wisdom. A war dancer joins in but after a minute of highly-stylised dancing with sticks — representing weapons — Lilette shouts, "Stop". There are not enough dancers to carry the scene.

So, the crew moves on tothe tense Game of Dice scene. Before the actual dice are rolled there are two scenes that must unfold. The first where their evil mama, Shakuni, plots to invite Yudhishtir (Nandu Bhinde). And the second, where the brothers debate the pros and cons of dice. The scene with Shakuni, played by Asif Baig (the lead singer of the now-defunct band Mantra), starts. Baig is a small man with eyes full of mischief. He sings a rock n’ roll-style song where he shares his plan with the audience. Then, it’s time for the five brothers (only there are four) to argue. Yudhishtir believes he cannot refuse but Bheema bellows, "It will be a game of cat and mice." Finally, they set off. And the game begins. Soon, Shakuni wins everything, including Draupadi. The scene moves swift and fast, as if on wings of flight you reach the Cheerharan scene.

The idea behind Jaya is to pick up the main aspects of the Mahabharata and in a few hours give the audience a feel of the entire epic. Written by Sandip Kanjilala, whose previous worksinclude a rock opera based on the Ramayana, Lilette was drawn to the script because it was an original work drawing from the Mahabharata and not the other way. "This is a modern version of the Mahabharata but it does not stray from its spirit," she says.

At Bandra Reclamation on March 14, 1998.