Incorporating CGI into mythology

A computer generated image used in the play.

The selfless and valiant warrior Karna (one of the central roles in the epic Mahabharata) was the subject of a play called Karna: Warror of the Sun. Before launching into specifics, here's what captured the attention of viewers -- the stupendous sets which deployed the Computer Generated Images (CGI) for the first time in India.
Thus the viewers came across an array of landscapes, sunsets, mountains that were so brilliantly recreated that one's attention was sometimes more riveted to the set rather than the action on stage and this is not meant to be a criticism. Explained filmmaker Bobby Bedi, the mastermind behind the stellar high tech sets: “Conventional sets can't be changed in the middle of a play. The only alternative is a revolving stage. Now because of this digital technique sets can be changed in 20 seconds.”
Scenes that remain etched in one's mind include the anguish of Karna when he discovers he is an illegitimate child and that Kunti is his real mother. Burying his head in Kunti's lap, he goes into an embryonic pose. The other part that remains is of the dainty, chiffon-clad dancers who perform at the court of Lord Indra. Likewise the recitation of Sanskrit shlokas set the tone for a perfect evening.
This is the second recent play for Rudradeep Chakrabarti, the director of the superb work on Karna. His last play called City of the Djinns, played to a packed hall. Talking to the director one encountered a highly dynamic theatre personality. A postgraduate from Rabindra Bharati in Kolkata and National School of Drama, he is well acquainted with Bangladeshi theatre heavyweights such as Jamil Ahmed and Kamaluddin Nilu.
Now he is turning his eye to the Upanishads and what he calls 'Islamic theatre.'
The playwright is Farrukh Dhondy, who has written scripts for Bandit Queen and Mangal Pandey. The play fleshes out all the complexities of Karna -- his superb archery, his burning desire to be a warrior, his angst at the discovery of his lineage and his altruism.
Midway into the play I talked to a variety of people. There was Himanshu Kapoor, a dietician from NOIDA (on the outskirts of Delhi). “I heard about the Mahabharata from my mother. To be honest I get a bit confused about the sequence of events. For me the appeal of Karna was in his standing up for his ideals rather than follow rules set by society,” he said.
The so-called plebian is far better acquainted with the hero than the 'elite'. Talking to Harsh Kumar, a Class 9 student of Government Boy's Senior Secondary School, one realised that others like him are far more rooted than the average Delhiite. “My class teacher introduced me to the Mahbharata. I particularly enjoyed the character of Karna.”
You would have thought that the organisers behind this masterpiece would have gotten their act together. As it turned out one had to run all over the place to get tickets, which were available only at the last minute.
However, such glitches can be overlooked. And this superb work is on till August 3.