About Vidyottama

The Play VIDYOTTAMA, a contemporary play, is based on the life of the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa and his scholar wife Vidyottama, princess of Ujjaini. The relationship between Vidyottamā and Kalidasa is extremely close and intriguing. Everyone in the kingdom believes that Kalidasa is the sole creator of four epic poems and also a playwright of great merit. The king and the courtiers as also the common man of Ujjaini, venerate Kalidasa, whose fame has now spread far and wide, along with the story of the proverbial fool who was once sitting on the very branch that he was axing, but has now received the blessings of Saraswati, the goddess of learning. As is common in historical records, there is no further mention of Vidyottamā the scholar princess, who was nurtured in an environment of learning and culture, and was equally erudite and sensitive. Vidyottamā is a contemporary play reassessing history with a gender perspective, very subtly highlighting the untold story of women’s contribution to art and literature. Vidyottamā is not a mere inspiration for Kalidasa but an actual equal partner in creation. The spectator is made a privileged viewer of the entire process of creation. Spectacular yet intensely intimate sequences unfold before the viewer with a breathtaking speed. In the end, it is left to him to decide the difficult question as to who is then, the actual creator. Mohan Maharishi, one of the best known Indian directors, skilfully tells the story of Vidyottama in a theatre language that combines dance, music and drama in a unique way.
Mohan Maharishi - Playwright & Director Former Director and Vice Chairman, National School of Drama, Mohan Maharishi has directed more than one hundred plays, which include classics from both eastern and western dramatic literature. He has written original plays, travelled extensively in Europe and North America as a performer, and received many awards, including those of Best Director, National School of Drama and Asian Theatre Institute, New Delhi, the Girish Ghosh Award, the Best Director, Rajasthan State Academy, Jodhpur; eminent Theatre Person, President's Award, Central Academy, New Delhi; and the Nandikar Award for Life Achievement, Nandikar, Kolkata, India. Based on the seed concept given by Mauni Baba, Mohan Maharishi has written and directed the play Vidyottama.
Padmashree Bharati Shivaji - Choreographer If ever the history of Mohiniyattam is written, the contribution of Bharti Shivaji, a rare combination of performer, choreographer, author and guru will be written in golden letters. Her approach to the aesthetics of Mohiniyattam has always been in significant relation to the inter-disciplinary traditions of Kerala. She is the founder Director of the centre for Mohiniyattam, in Kerala and Delhi. She has performed extensively in India and abroad and presented Mohiniyattam in Brussels and other countries in the European Union, at the prestigious International Edinburgh Festival, and has presented Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ in her style, at the prestigious Bolshoi Theatre. Awards to her credit include the Lasyalakshmi from the K.Nambiar Trust Kerala, the Sahitya Kala Parishad Samman, Nrityachoodamani from the Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai, the Sangeet Natak Academy award and the Padmashri. The Theatre de la Ville, France award by the Mayor of Paris felicitated her for her one women crusade for the disappearing art form. Bharti Shivaji has choreographed the dance sequences in Vidyottama.
Kavalam Padmanabhan - Music Director Padmanabhan belongs to a family of illustrious personalities, of historians, ambassadors, theatre personalities, academicians, painters, art historians, musicians and poets. He joined his Uncle, K.N. Panikkar’s theatre group ‘Sopanam’ and also worked in films with the late Shri G. Arvindan, the reputed film maker of Kerala. He has given music directions to more than twelve Malayalam art films and tele-films in Hindi and Malayalam. He has also worked with renowned theatre directors, giving music for folk, Sanskrit, Greek, and modern plays. He has travelled in many countries in Europe, Latin America, the erstwhile USSR, Gulf countries, and Bangladesh both as the main percussion artiste and as music director. Sri Padamanabhan shall be jointly giving music direction to Vidyottama.
Ratna Panikkar - Jt. Music Director Ratna started learning Karnatak classical music at the age of seven from Smt. Lakshmikutty Bhagvatar of S.T.S.S. Kalalayam, Punalur. After completing her masters in Karnataka music from Delhi University, she did her Ph.d. from Madras on the subject ‘Comparative study of Hindustani and Karnataka Raga System’. She joined the National School of Drama as lecturer in music and has served as Dean Academics of NSD from 2002-03. She has given music direction to a number of plays working with playwrights like Gopinathan Nair, Marlow, Badal Sarkar, Mohan Rakesh, and directors like Dr. Rajender Babu, Robin Das, Mohan Maharishi, Sushil Boutiyal and V.K. Sharma. Her international experience includes Maldives, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Damascus, and Rome. Ratna Panikkar shall be jointly giving music direction to Vidyottama.
Prashasan S. Maltiar - Stage Manager Maltiar is a postgraduate from National School of Drama, New Delhi in design and direction. He has been in charge of the sets, costumes, make-up and properties, lights and sound design work in a number of plays like Dhoka Raja, Bidesia, Antigone, Midnights Children, Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam, Khadia ka Ghera etc. His directorial ventures include Maxim Gorky’s ‘My Childhood’, Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Dario Fo’s ‘The Story of the Tiger’, etc. He has also acted in a number of plays directed by important theatre personalities and worked in films as chief art director and assistant director. He participated in the Biennale Bonn, in Germany as set designer for ‘Midnights Children’. He is the stage manager and assistant to Mohan Maharishi in Vidyottama.
Shruti Sharma - Costume Designer Shruti graduated from the National Institute of Technology with a degree in Fashion and Information Technology. She is skilled in production planning and control, marketing and merchandising, supply chain management and fashion styling. She has coordinated events with BTL Event Management, done shows for Godrej, IBM, Panasonic and worked as Assistant Coordinator in Lakme India Fashion Week 2005, and Tex-Styles 2005. She was awarded for best drama and performance on the aids day play competition, 2000 and has acted in various plays showcased at NSD, Delhi; and Ravindra Manch, Jaipur and Patna. Shruti has designed the costumes and played a role in Vidyottama.
Mahendra Mewati - Actor A graduate in Science, Mahendra further obtained a diploma in acting from the National School of Drama in 1995 and has been a member of the Repertory. He is also a well trained dancer and has received training in semi-classical, folk singing. Having done significant theatre workshops in collaboration with Nassiruddin Shah, Pandit Satyadev Dubey, B.V.Karanth, Govind Namdev and Dinesh Khanna etc, he has experience in professional Music design, Set design, Stage Management, Costume and Set management as well. He has performed significant main and character roles in more than fifty plays ranging from three different productions of Hamlet, Cant Pay Wont Pay, Raste, Othello, Andha Yug, Rozan Crans And Gilldustran Are Dead, Bagia Bancharam ki, Rhinocerous, Anju Malige, Mrichhkatikam, Inder Sabha, Band Gali Ka Aakhiri Makaan, Dhruvaswamini etc. Mahendra is performing as Kalidasa in Vidyottama.
Vijayalakshmi - Danseuse, Actor Born into a family with a long lineage in traditional arts, Vijayalakshmi has brought in a fresh perspective to the age old dance form of Mohiniyattam. She has continued the path breaking reconstruction of the repertoire of Mohiniyattam in the tradition of her mother and guru Bharati Shivaji. In the production of Unniarcha, the ballads of North Malabar, she combined Kalaripayattu, the 2000 year old martial art tradition of Kerala with her style in a seamless blending of classical forms. Vijayalaksmi has performed in Germany, France England, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, Turkey, in over a dozen cities of the US and the UAE winning several awards, fellowships and Outstanding Performance Titles. Vijaya plays the lead role Vidyottama.
Sanjiv Chopra - Actor An alumnus of the Delhi IIT (1980), Sanjiv Chopra has more than 25 years of corporate experience, but nurtures a keen interest in Theatre and the Performing Arts, both as an actor and a promoter. He is the founder member of an amateur theatre group of ex-IITians, and of NATWA, a Delhi based professional theatre group. He has acted in 18 plays and 5 TV serials, and has recently quit his corporate executive life to further the cause of theatre both in Delhi and Mumbai. Sanjiv plays the connoisseur King in Vidyottama.
Dr Anjala Maharishi - Dancer / Teacher / Actor Trained as a classical Bharatnatyam dancer Anjala is a master’s in Theatre from the National School of Drama where she won the coveted best Actress Award. She has played major roles in more than 50 plays which include both the western and eastern traditions ranging from traditional to modern texts, like the Doll’s House, Andha Yug, Jasma Odan Bhavai, Asadh ka Ek Din, Swapnavasavadatta and others. She has directed plays in English, Hindi and Sanskrit, and taught at the NSD, the School of Bharatnatyam in Chandigarh, the University of Georgia USA, the Shropshire Youth Programs in Theatre, UK., and has been a cultural expert in Mauritius. She has designed and choreographed dance dramas on subjects from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and on Buddha and Ganga. She has published a number of significant articles in the World Theatre Encyclopaedia. The NSD has published her thesis “The comparative study of Epic and Classical Indian Theatre with specific reference to A-Effect (Verfremdungseffekt). Dr. Anjala plays a pivotal role in the dilemma of Vidyottma.
Laxmi Rawat - Actor A commerce graduate from the University of Delhi, Laxmi has a two year diploma in acting from the Shri Ram Center for Performing Arts, and a post graduation in Dramatic arts from the National School of drama. She has worked with eminent theatre personalities like K.N. Pannikar, Ram Gopal Bajaj, Mohan Maharishi, Rob Clair, Kirti Jain, Victor Banerjee, Roysten Abel, Adil Hussain, V.V. Tapialov, Anuradha Kapur etc, and attended workshops in Saraikela Chau and other dramatic art forms. In Vidyottma she plays an important character role of the friend and confidante of the main female lead.
Ravi Khanwilkar Graduating from the National School of Drama, Ravi has worked with their repertory company as a grade A artist. He has worked with eminent Directors, both in Film and TV mediums as well as with renowned theatre personalities, like Bhanu Bharati, B.M. Shah, Ibrahim Alkazi, Habib Tanvir, Ramgopal Bajaj, M.K. Raina, Bansi Kaul, Mohan Maharishi, K.N.Pannikar, Barry John, Fritz Benewitz, Feroze Khan , Dinesh Thakur etc. Specializing in Acting, he has been at the forefront of many plays staged in the Capital and is presently working primarily for Serials and Films.
Rekha Mody - Director, Udhbhav Arts Pvt. Ltd. After centuries, an enquiry into the role of Vidyottama in the writing of Kalidas has been envisioned by Kapil Avtar Shri Shri Mauni Baba of Ujjain. There is a fine line between truth, imagination and perception. Many a times, what happens to be imagined, perceived keenly emerges as the truth. Looking at Kalidas from a gender persepective has been an interesting experience for us.
Ratna Lahiri - Director, Habiart Foundation For us the value of a work of art lies both in the modicum of expression as well as in its ability to sensitize the imagination towards hitherto unforeseen innuendoes and subtle implications. Mohanji has very successfully combined the known reality with the possibilities of such innuendo. This is a play that will be remembered for a perfect match of genre and content, and an equally briliant exposition of the actors' inherent capabilities.