Bhima

If Bhima were to live today, who would he be — a loyal middle-management warrior who is the engine of the company but never its CEO? A family man who defines himself only in terms of roles — the breadwinner, the husband, the son — who will do anything for his family? Or does he exist as an individual beyond these roles? Does society look after its Bhimas, or is it only Arjuna we want? Contrasting the Koodiyattam form with contemporary dialogue and commentary, using music and poetry as interventions, Bhima re-examines a version of masculinity and its interaction with modernity. Bhima won the Best Innovative Sound Design award for Sachin Gurjale at the 2017 Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META). Cast Devised and performed by: Vivek Vijayakumaran and Sachin Gurjale Crew Concept: Vivek Vijayakumaran Direction: Anitha Santhanam Text: Sachin Gurjale, Vivek Vijayakumaran, Ajith Lal, Swetanshu Bora and Anitha Santhanam Costume: Surabhi Vasisht and Aruna M Poster Design: Pratyush Singh Lighting Designer: Manju Narayan Production Manager: Robin Joe About the Artists Vivek Vijayakumaran Vivek Vijayakumaran is a Bengaluru-based theatre director, actor, and pedagogue with over 15 years of experience in performance, embodied research, and actor training. Trained under masters including Heisnam Kanhailal, Guru G. Venu, and at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards, his practice integrates traditional Indian performance frameworks like Navarasa with contemporary physical theatre. His paper on his pedagogy of training contemporary actors in Navarasas has been selected for publication. As Artistic Director of Our Theatre Collective and Studio, Vivek leads experimental, research-driven performance initiatives. His original stage work includes directing the contemporary physical theatre piece The Thumb and acclaimed productions like IT IS YOU. He has acted in the feature film, Pada. Vivek has served as visiting faculty at Drama School Mumbai and Azim Premji University, and trained over 300 performers in India. He was named one of Forbes India’s 12 Boundary-Pushing Theatre Innovators. Sachin Gurjale Sachin Gurjale is a theatre practitioner, drummer and sound designer and has been active in the Bengaluru cultural scene for over two decades. Sachin’s collaboration in the Bhima project dates back to 2014 when he travelled with Vivek to Iranjalakuda to study the role of the Mizhavu in a Koodiyattam performance under the guidance of Kalamandalam Rajeev. With this perspective, he designed a percussive score for Bhima that brought his own influence of the African djembe and other urban folk instruments. Anitha Santhanam Anitha Santhanam is a seasoned theatre and movement practitioner based in Bengaluru. Holding the embodied imagination as its core, her creative work spans performance, direction and teaching. She was part of the core faculty team at Drama School Mumbai (2022-2024), faculty of Integral Theatre on the FECAT program at SMART (2013-2022) and an artist-in-residence at the Srishti Manipal institute of Art, Design and Technology Bengaluru (2009-2013). Anitha is also a two-time awardee of the Charles Wallace India Trust scholarship through which she trained in actor-created theatre and the Lecoq pedagogy at LISPA London, under the mentorship of Thomas Pratkki. During her time in London, Anitha also