Many years ago, may be in the year 2000, I had the blessed opportunity to work with Dr Umashree. What an actor. She played Sharmishte, and I was Chitralekhe in Karnad ji's Yayati. We travelled around Karnataka performing the play. It was a great class on prepping for a show, being a star. I was in awe.
Sankula covered it. I was surprised to be on the cover page. Pappa bought nearly 10 copies to send to people.
We had travelled all around Karnataka especially North Karnataka in a small van, and we had to bunk in dorms, were invited by the Panchayat president and met the heads of the company theatre. One night, Umashree avaru took me to watch a company play. Company plays are done by local touring groups, have melodramatic stories lines and very exaggerated in form.
The lead usually dresses as a successful film star, and this day he was dressed as Dr Rajkumar. The play began at baout 10 pm and went on till about 1 am. It was about a jilted love story. The backdrops are on canvas and painted, and they scroll up and down to show scene changes.
Company nataka sets are usually huge painted backdrops.
I was able to see and meet the actors after the play, thanks to Umashree ji. She had almost become a care taker of mine, in that time. She was a very kind, and helpful person. Even later, when I worked with her, the feeling was the same.
So, I was really happy to see her on stage. I did not meet her this time as she was back stage, and an actor gets mobbed when they exit, and I did not want to be a part of that mob.
Akshara V, Daksha, Arun Murthy and I stood at the Rajatadri palace as she exited the building, and it was just mobbed. This is all because of Dr Umashree. She is so special as an actor.
and now we come to Sharmishte
The daughter of a Rakshasa king, beautiful, kind, haunting, faithful - who befriends Devyani - the proud, demanding daughter of Shukracharya. Sharmishte bears many insults from Devyani, silently, humourously and in one weak moment retaliates. This becomes her undoing. She is now forever to be a slave - a princess slave to Devyani - who is married off to Yayati.
Yayati has children with Devyani, but he also falls in love with Sharmishte, and marries her in secret, and has 3 children with her. Devyani who does not know who the father of Sharmishte's children are, continues to insult her. One day when she finds out, she goes to her father - Shukracharya - who curses Yayati with old age, and loss of youth.
Yayati pleads with Shukracharya to release him of this curse, and he only relents to say if he can get any of his sons to exchange his age with them, then he can be youthful.
His sons with Devyani dont want that life. But his son with Sharmishte exchanges his life and youth with his father. Puru, who is newely married to Chiralekhe gives his youth to his father. Chitralekhe who sees this takes her life.
Yayati comes to realise his folly and chooses to go to vanaparasta.
This rendition of the play was a solo performance by Dr Umashree. While it was a thrill to see her, I did not like the play. The treatment was weak at best. The ending was dismal. It was a directorial thing. How could Sharmishte in the end accept to go with Devyani to the forest to live with Yayati. Sharmiste seems to have lost her spine, he inner strength.
It was clear that in the directorial and dramaturgy team there was no woman involved, who could say anything to affect and impact the plot.
But, hey, I got to see Dr. Umashree on stage - even though I hoped for better.
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