Premiering in Kerala for the first time, the show 18 Golden Steps will tell the story of Lord Ayyappa. One might wonder if there is any purpose in narrating the story of the Lord of Sabarimala now. The importance lies in the themes that they will showcase which is of utmost relevance in today’s world. This show boasts of a crew of over 40 dancers performing a hoard of art forms.
Mithun Shyam who will be dancing in the show has also choreographed it. Mithun mentions that the themes are very importance in this show. He says, “The show is about the story of Sabarimala and the story itself stands for many socially relevant ideologies like no bar for caste and creed, instilling discipline and it also gives a sense of hope and achievement. The concept of men in a relationship or men becoming women is a taboo topic. But this has already been done centuries ago when Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu came together to produce a child (Lord Ayyappa). We have tried to show that when something like this has been done years ago, why is so difficult for this generation to accept this so called taboo and regard it as a trend that we have adopted from the west.”
The show starts with the story of Mahishi, to her death and the time when Lord Ayyappa climbs the Golden Steps and take his position on top of Sabarimala. Each of these 18 golden steps are of utmost significance. Ask him what the audience can expect from this show, he adds, “There is a lot of drama, theatrical effects with a fast-moving story line. One can also watch a unique art form from Kerala and Tamil Nadu called Puli Kali, along with bharatanatyam and glimpses of various other dance styles.” The musical score for this production is done by Praveen D Rao who is well known in the film, television and theatre industry.
Mithun will be playing the character of Mahishi. He says, “Mahishi is a demoness and the antagonist in this production. I will doing something called Sthriveshan where a male plays a female character. She is the sister of Mahishasura of who was killed by Goddess Durga. The one things that I love about this character is her loyalty to her brother.” Harshavardhan K will be playing the character of Nandi, Lord Shiva’s vehicle as well as one of the tigers. He adds, “For Nandi I will be doing 40 second Bharatanatyam piece and then Puli Kali.” Ask this Bharatanatyam dancer if it was hard to learn this folk dance and he adds, “It was little hard as I wasn’t able to do the folk steps but at the same time exciting to learn a new art form.” Akshayashree is a girl playing the character of Lord Ayyappa. Ask her whether it was difficult to play a male character, she says that since she was brought like son, the role wasn’t very hard. She adds, “The fact that even when Lord Ayyappa is in front of a huge demoness, he is still gentle and loving. This showed that even if I am in difficult situations, keeping calm is necessary.” The troupe plans to take the production to various parts across the country especially the rural areas.
– The show is set to happen on December 22 at MLR Convention Centre.
