Mahabharata through the ‘eyes’ of ‘Gandhari’- a superb drama script by Muthuvelalagar.

Muthuvel Alagar

Mahabharata through the ‘eyes’ of Gandhari — the unsung and perhaps the most suffered character of the epic.Muthuvelalagar, a noted dramatist and writer passionately narrated the story of Mahabharata and in it the pain of Gandhari with deep emotions. The artist Rani Jaya as Gandhari in the rehearsal showed no signs of jet lag or tiredness and straight away went into the characters she had to portray.Gandhari is a very prominent character of Mahabharata. The daughter of the King of Gandhar, Princess Gandhari is forced to marry the blind and much older king Dhrithrashtra. “Maryada Ke Bandhan” and the boon that she will bear 100 sons became the curse of her life.Gandhari blind-folded herself and vows to remain so for the rest of her life. Just imagine the pain of not being able to see her children and learning about them through the eyes of others. Rani Jaya displays such emotions very artistically. The pain wells up tears in her eyes. Says Rani Jaya,” If I don’t get tears in my eyes I even put off the rehearsals.” ‘She had done a commendable job displaying different emotions and delivering dialogues in various moods. She has done reasonably well justifying her character, Muthuvelalagar said. Asked about the anti-war theme, Muthuvelalagar says Gandhari tried to prevent the war by all means but she had to give in to the stubbornness of her husband and son Duryodhana who turns down the offer of giving away five villages to the five Pandava brothers. Helpless and subdued, Gandhari also rejects the disrobing of Draupadi. The relevance of the play in the contemporary world is that it highlights the anti-war theme and the role of women, especially the mother in educating the society to give up violence” says Muthuvelalagar who has been very actively involved in popularizing theatre in Trichy region. -Govin