Mumbai: Though rich art and culture is a quintessential element of Mumbai, the pandemic had faded the city out of its hue for a while. As it is slowly beginning to come back to life, an event by the Ambanis in the city has taken the front seat, grabbing attention countrywide. The ‘Arangetram’ or ‘ascent to the stage’ performance of Radhika Merchant -- the ‘bride to be’ to Anant Ambani, the younger son of Nita and Mukesh Ambani -- is in the prime limelight. The performance was hosted by the Ambanis on Sunday in a lavish event, putting the city back in its eccentric cultural dazzle.
The Grand Theater in the Jio WorldCentre at BKC hosted several popular faces in the city on Sunday. The Merchant and Ambani families turned out in full strength and so did their friends from the worlds of public service, business and the arts to support and encourage Radhika for her first on-stage solo performance.
Most of the guests turned up in their traditional bests with brocaded and embroidered silk sarees and elaborate sherwanis and kurtas, adding to the grandeur and elegance of the event. The Ambanis and the Merchants, on the other hand, made sure that they offered a personal welcome to each guest. All the Covid protocols were followed to the strictest, including testing prior to the event, which the guests readily agreed to in the interest of everyone’s safety and good health.
In all this razzmatazz, the star of the hour Radhika Merchant managed to stun the audience with her elegant Bharatnatyam solo performance. It was a celebratory moment for her and her Guru Bhavana Thakar, from whom Radhika took her Bharatnatyam lessons for over 8 years. Arangetram – the first solo stage performance of a Bharatnatyam performer – also marks the entry of a new artist into the rarefied world of the art form, and is therefore considered one of the most crucial events of a performer's career. It also vitally signifies the continuance of its tradition as well as the Guru-Shishya Parampara the dance form entails.
Also read: Sonu Sood comes to rescue of Bihar girl born with four arms, four legs
Radhika’s performance consisted of all the traditional elements of the Arangetram performance – starting with the Pushpanjali to invoke the deities of the stage, god, guru and the audience to seek their blessings, the performance was the followed by Ganesh Vandana and the traditional Allaripu, the prayers for the success of the performance. The invocations were set to traditional ragas and the rhythm of the aaditala. This was followed by the popular bhajan ‘Achyutam Keshavam’ set to raga Ragamalika with three stories – of Shabri’s longing for Lord Rama, the dance of Lord Krishna with the gopis and a story of mother Yashoda and baby Krishna.
A powerful rendition of Shiva Panchakshara followed the bhajan and portrayed the eternal dance of Lord Nataraj. Radhika then performed the complicated ‘AstaRasa’ – or the eight basic emotions inherent to a human being as described in the Natya shastras. These include the Shringaar (love), Hasya (laughter), Karuna(sorrow), Bhaya (fear), Veera (heroism), Raudra (anger), Bibhitsa (disgust) and Adbhuta (wonder). Radhika's ability to emote with her expressions as well as through the dance mudras was a treat to the eyes.
The culmination was with the Tillana – a dance with intricate footwork, complex hand movement and statuesque postures. It was no surprise that she received a long and thunderous applause at the end of the show. Incidentally, Radhika will be the second Bharatnatyam proponent in the Ambani family after Nita Ambani, who herself is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and continues to perform in spite of her tremendous national and international responsibilities.
