Sattavara Neralu

Sattavara Neralu is a sui generis creative theatre expression by G.B. Joshi, popularly known in theatre circles as "Jadabharatha." Subtly pulling at a philosophical string and delineating a dreadful tune, the play shakes the stable philosophical base of society and intellectually inquires into its eternally rooted, firmly held beliefs.

Narayana is forcibly pulled into sanyasa and made the seer of a mutt, a ventriloquist's puppet of kingmaker Diwan Krishnacharya. The seer is ashamed of his pretentious celibacy, unable to suppress his unsatiated worldly desires, and suffers the onslaught of intellectuals thronging the mutt in search of philosophical and spiritual clarity, subjecting him to constant scrutiny and judgement.

Diwan, pursuing his own ulterior motives, manages to send the seer away on a pilgrimage and later spreads news that the seer has passed on to the heavens. He immediately builds a Vrindavan in the deceased seer's name and continues running the mutt's activities. But the seer, actually alive and now reverted to being ordinary Narayana, returns to confront Diwan. Diwan insists that the dead seer resides in the Vrindavan, and a frustrated Narayana threatens to reveal the truth. But the incorrigible Diwan challenges him, confident that devotees will blindly continue believing what they've practised for ages, rejecting whatever Narayana says, since mortal Narayana is no longer the seer they revere.

B.V. Karanth's brilliant theatrical experiment, with lilting and reverberating music drawing on rich lyrics from Haridasa Pandarasa literature, brings Sattavara Neralu to life, having successfully entertained and enthralled packed audiences through nearly 350 shows across the country.