I have a lot of creative enerygy: Shobana

She’s a choreographer, an actor, a dancer and a teacher, all rolled into one and that’s because the extremely talented Shobana wants to be surrounded by creativity always. “I’m a person who needs to keep working in a creative chakra all the time. That’s what provides me with energy,” she says.
Shobana’s always on the lookout for some new pursuit, some project to channelise her creative energies.And so — Krishna — a multimedia dance ballet, that’s been directed and choreographed by Shobana herself. She will also be enacting the central role of Krishna in it.
Ask her why she chose Lord Krishna as her subject and she says. “For Krishna to be such an international icon, so to speak, means there are various perspectives on him,” says Shobana. “Saints, philosophers and historians have their own take on him. While reading about their perspectives, a story took form in my mind and that’s how Krishna happened.” Krishna is the tale of the man, his philosophy and why he is still above man’s understanding. With great enthusiasm Shobana informs us that Krishna will also touch upon some of the lesser known stories from the epic Mahabharata. From Vrindavan to Mathura to Kurukshetra; all three will be depicted on one canvas. “It is not just dance or drama, it is an amalgamation of both. There are not just Bharatnatyam dances, but classical, folk and film songs as well. It is Indian art form at its best and Krishna is for anyone who wants to be entertained in an aesthetic manner,” she adds.
The ballet, which has Sound Design by Oscar award winner Resul Pookutty, is also special for Shobana as a number of celebrated actors like Shabana Azmi, Konkona SenSharma, Radhika, Nandita Das, Prabhu, Milind Soman as well as Surya have lent their voices to it. “I asked my film friends to see if they wanted to experiment with something new and it was overwhelming how so many of them agreed. Shabanji immediately said yes, so did Konkona. Resul was the first one to join us. The beautiful aspect of the ballet is that I get to work with such beautiful minds. To see them grab onto any aspect of the art form to better themselves, was for me, the high point. Like I said earlier, I’m a person with a lot of creative energy and there couldn’t have been better motivation than this!” she smiles.
Krishna will see amateur dancers performing alongside Shobana. “It’s an all girls’ act. I’m bringing 23 young girls to Mumbai for the show, including my two-yearold, who struts on the stage and gets applauded for it,” she laughs. Shobana appreciates the dedication and hard work of the girls. “They have spent 15-16 years of their life learning these art forms and not only do they have to dance, but act and emote as well,” she adds.
With 250 films to her credit, Shobana says that it’s a conscious decision on her part not to do many films now. “I look at scripts all the time, but it’s just that I’m much happier with these solo efforts of mine, unlike films that are collaborative effort,” she says. “But I would love to work with some really good minds, learn and have some fun at the same time.” She is currently working in the 3D-animation film Kochadaiyaan, directed by Rajinikanth’s daughter Soundarya, where she will be seen in animated form. “I found it really interesting as it’s an animation and I’m getting to learn something new. Also I wanted to see my child say ‘Ma, you’re a cartoon!’
Krishna will be performed at Nehru Centre Auditorium, Worli at 7.15 pm today evening.