Vaikhari review: Exploring the unintelligible, but artistic language of Padhant

The film opens with the definition of various terms used commonly in music and dance like taal (rhythm that's evenly paced), lay (flow of duration) and bol (meaningful or abstract words), among others. And in the end is one that, perhaps, combines them all — Padhant — the central theme of the film. 

Recited by dancers and musicians during a performance to mark space, time, motion and direction through words, hand movements or the beat of the percussive instrument, Padhant is the art of reciting rhythmic syllables in Hindustani classical music and dance forms such as Kathak. 

Director Lubdhak Chatterjee delves into this art of recitation with the help of renowned Kathak exponent Parwati Dutta. He sets the film in Dutta’s beautiful Mahagami Gurukul in Aurangabad. The setting — with sculptures, paintings, plants and aesthetic stone walls — provides a beautiful backdrop for a film whose core is performing art. 

The film follows Dutta and her students as they prepare to stage a dance adaptation of Kalidas’s masterpiece Meghadootam. 

Leisurely shots of the various nooks and corners of the gurukul take up most of the initial 15 minutes, setting up the stage for exploration of the subject. The cinematography is intimate, with some beautiful compositions and elegant camera movements that complement the dance its capturing. 

While most of action unfolds indoors, a brief break comes in the form of Ellora caves, where Dutta and her group of dancers reconnect with the history of Padhant. Watch out for a solo performance by Dutta against the backdrop of the sculptures, with a beautiful play of sunlight and shadows.

While Chatterjee attempts to educate the lay person via this documentary, the viewer may be thrown directly into the deep end when it comes to comprehending the scope of the subject. It may be a little difficult to understand, with lots of Sanskrit and technical words thrown in. But you will definitely come out learning a lot more about the incomprehensible, but magical sounds and syllables, that form an important element in the expression of the emotions being conveyed in a dance performance.

Vaikhari, according to Hindu and yogic philosophy, is the last of four stages that sounds go through as they come to be perceptible and audible. Simply put, it stands for articulation or expression.

Chatterjee becomes a silent spectator and allows this artistic form to unfold in front of him. The director refrains from using voiceovers and interviews, which are the typical tropes of documentary filmmaking and opts to tell the story through Dutta's interactions with her students and colleagues, and the footage of rehearsals and dance performances.  

This treatment makes Vaikhari an aesthetically pleasing film delving into things that may be incomprehensible on the surface, but have a magical and artistic language of expression within. 

Pichla Varka was screened at the Open Frame Film Festival 2018 in New Delhi on 18 September.