IN PRAISE OF A SUPERB ACTOR AND A FASCINATING CHARACTER-By Shyamala B.Cowsik

IN PRAISE OF A SUPERB ACTOR AND A FASCINATING CHARACTER

Dear Mohit (being over 60, I can surely take the liberty!),

I started watching DKD Mahadev in October last. and straightaway I saw how incredibly lucky both the producers and the writer, Utkarsh, had been in getting you to play Mahadev.

You have an imposing height and a deep voice, and most important, you have that intangible quality called presence, the IT factor. It cannot be learned, it is either there or not, and with you, it is there in spades! Plus, you are so obviously a master of facial nuance.

You brought all these skills into play in exploring even the serene, majestic Mahadev, and you made him as credible as a loving husband and father as when he was the param yogi.

However, it was not till you started playing Jalandhar that I realised the full extent of your range as a performer. But for your subtlety in showing every small change of expression, and your body language, Jalandhar would have been only a pale shadow of the fascinating and very complex character you have made of him.

But it was yesterday, Monday May 20, that you really surpassed yourself.

The contrast between your two avatars was blinding: the serene benevolence and the remote majesty of Mahadev at Kailash with Nandi and the ganapreths in one frame – the noble visage so still and gentle. And in the very next frame, his alter ego- the hard lines of his face masking the secret rage of one pushed beyond endurance by sneers and taunts even from the Rishis, his eagle eyes barely veiling his dangerous intentions.

I am convinced that for you, and for Utkarsh, it is not Mahadev but Jalandhar who is the real challenge – a fierce and untameable force that goes irretrievably wrong and dooms himself, in what should be an epic tragedy of what might have been.

Yesterday, the two of you set the stage for Jalandhar’s crossover to the dark side with great skill; the vicious insults from Parasurama and later, the only slightly less stinging ones from Rishi Markandeya (I thought he was to be always 16? He looks more like 60 here) would have enraged a saint, and he is no saint, is Jalandhar. They all seemed determined to bring out the worst in him.

The most marked example of this was when, by pointedly informing Jalandhar that as soon as Parvati had completed the last stage of the ashtanga yoga and reassumed her adi shakti roop, he would be killed, Parasurama effectively ensures that Jalandhar will try to stop her for completing the 8th stage, no matter how he has to do it.

I loved the way your face, till then smiling sarcastically, froze when he said that, the eyes hardened till they looked like dark blue stones, and all the muscles tightened.

You brought out every mood and shade in Jalandhar incredibly well. His mounting impatience at having to listen to one more paean in praise of Mahadev was conveyed effortlessly: you roll your eyes and twist your mouth behind Parasurama’s back, or toss your head in barely concealed contempt.

Then Jalandhar’s surging irritation at being constantly given respect only because he is a shivansh. The veiled rage when Parasurama insults him. But then , and later, when Rishi Markandeya does not spare him either, the steely determination to stay the course and get the information he wants no matter how distasteful the process of getting it is for him. The forced quiet on his face when he counters the insults from Markandeya with “Main yahan apamaanit hone nahin aaya hoon

During the meeting with the rishis at Markandeya’s ashram, his half ironic, half angry reaction when he has the glory of the shivansh and the idea of his being, otherwise, as good as nothing, is rubbed into his face till he must have been seething. But he keeps his rage, visibly, under tight control. When he is invited to a meal because he is a shivansh, and he accepts with an “Avashya!” the expression in his/your eyes was extraordinary.

The hidden bitterness at being looked down upon by Mahadev – as Jalandhar wrongly assumes it to be – that surfaces when he tells Vrinda that now the karka will free himself once and for all. The secret triumph in his eyes as he exults in his discovery of the path to what he wants, as a dismayed Vrinda and Shukracharya look on helplessly. And again, the same fierce joy that seems to light him up from inside, as he immerses himself in the jalasamadhi.

You got it dead right every single time. In toto, it was a very rich display of controlled strength as an actor. Very, very impressive, and something you can be rightly proud of.

I am delighted at being able to watch, day after day, such consistent excellence. I can see that just as Utkarsh, who is so very talented, is having a ball writing Jalandhar, and you are having a ball playing him!

Keep it up and my very best wishes for you to scale ever greater heights as a superb performer.

Shyamala B.Cowsik