Rethinking the Navarasa: A Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue in 'NINE – Our Circle of Lines'

Challenging the Canon of Rasa

In the ancient Natyashastra, Bharatramuni outlined the navarasa, the nine foundational emotions that have governed Indian aesthetics for centuries. Ten years ago, poet Anupama Raju revisited these concepts through a series of triolets in her book, "Nine," utilizing a rigid eight-line rhyming structure. This literary foundation serves as the catalyst for "NINE – Our Circle of Lines," a collaborative production with Bharatanatyam exponent Rajashree Warrier that premiered at the Kerala Literary Festival in early 2025.

The performance functions as a live exchange between media. Raju recites verses, prompted by Warrier’s kinetic interpretations, which in turn inspire new poetic responses from Raju. The duo intentionally selected literary festivals, including an upcoming appearance at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival, to reach audiences inclined toward layered, analytical content. While the full work explores the spectrum of emotion, recent stagings have focused on shringaram (romance), bhibatsam (disgust), and bhayanakam (fear).

Deconstructing Classical Form

Warrier, who also composed the musical score featuring instruments like the mizhavu, harp, and mridangam, deliberately avoids conventional Bharatanatyam constraints. She describes her approach as recycling the classical language into a new mold, breaking the specific limb movements dictated by tradition to serve the narrative. This structural freedom allows the performers to explore Raju's darker perspective on the rasas.

• Shringaram: Rather than idealized love, the piece examines the domestic drudgery and loss of agency inherent in codependency.
• Bhayanakam: This section focuses on a terrifying swap of identities between two individuals, where personal beliefs are consumed by the other.
• Bhibatsam: Warrier interprets disgust through the lens of a recurring, uncomfortable dream that lingers in the consciousness.

A Symbiotic Partnership

Based in Thiruvananthapuram, Raju and Warrier spent over a year developing the production after connecting during the pandemic. Their collaboration prioritizes intellectual boundaries and mutual respect, allowing each artist to maintain their specific craft while finding common ground in the subtext of the poems. The title, "Our Circle of Lines," signifies the ongoing symbiosis between the lines of poetry and the lines of physical movement.

Raju, a celebrated Anglophone poet and translator who also maintains a corporate career at UST, views the project as a window into another artist's universe. For Warrier, the gratification lies in the precise alignment of their creative intentions. Following its debut in Kozhikode and a second staging in Kolkata, the performance continues to challenge how traditional art forms address contemporary psychological realities.

Source: The Hindu — Home