What if Ravana wasn’t the villain?

Name: Dashaanan
Cast:TM Karthik
Duration: 75 minutes approx.
Review: The Ramayana has always been an open field for movie makers and playwrights alike. The stories within stories, the layers of social and ethical mores, characters – each of whom has great dramatic potential, and the good-over-evil formula all works in showbiz. However, many have balked away from breaking the stereotypes and experimenting with the epic.There have been sporadic attempts at presenting the epic from the viewpoint of Sita, or even the individual stories of characters who loiter on the fringes of the story merely serving to change the course of the plot here and there, like Soorpakana, for instance. But no one dares touch Ravana, the demon-God who kidnaps Sita and sets the ball rolling for the good-vs-evil war.
This play, Dashaanan, a Theatre Nisha production, however, is all about Ravana. It is a one-act play, a soliloquy by the ten-headed demon king of Lanka. Is he the villain he’s sketched out to be in the epic? Has he been vilified to alternately glorify Lord Rama? How does one judge good and bad, rather who is the judge? Written by Arun Kukreja, Dashaanan gives us food for thought using Ravana’s words. As he ponders the righteousness of the ‘rights’ we celebrate in the Ramayana, the viewer is forced to think over why should Ravana be deemed the anti-hero? Why should all goodness belong to the Rama? Why cannot the demons also have certain inherent qualities?
For many, especially the young, this topic might sound yawn-inducing. But TM Karthik, who plays Ravana on stage, manages to keep the act crisp and trotting along. It does get a tad preachy here and there – but that’s a given considering the subject. Karthik manages to get the essence across – the dialogues are smart and short, and stops short of getting judgmental about his good and bad acts. The play might induce a heavy dose of weekend thinking, but on the lighter side, the twist will be good on your pockets, for you might start thinking whether celebrating Lord Rama’s win with a shopping spree and crackers is a good idea after all!
The play’s on at the Alliance Française of Madras, 3pm and 7pm, on Sept 28, 39 and 30. It’s ticketed event.