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Ein Lall made a dance video based on the story of Abhimanyu from the Indian mythology. This specific mixture of music, dance and video techniques has resulted in a production which, by Indian standards, offers an original outlook on the possibilities of the medium. Moreover, the story is not told from the traditional male point of view, but from that of Subhadra, Abhimanyu's mother. There are four parts: the Dream, the Mantra, the Perfect Warrior and Abhimanyu. In the first part the pregnant Subhadra dreams about the perfect beauty of her son, but when the moon is eclipsed she knows he is damned. Mother and son are opposites and are played by one and the same dancer. In the second part Subhadra's husband whispers a mantra to her which is supposed to make her son invincible, so that he can put an end to the Great War. But Subhadra falls asleep and Abhimanyu learns only half the secret. His mother knows that it will not only bring him victory, but also death. In the third part she fights for Abhimanyu's life. She tries to imprint on him her own ideals of the hero possessing the power of the five elements. In the final part, however, he returns to life shaped by his father's mantra, born to kill. The more victories he obtains, the more dangerous he becomes and the more luxurious his costume gets. In the end his faces becomes one with that of his mother's, who returns to sleep grief-stricken.
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Lies Holtrop
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Camera: Arun Sethi, Editing: Bhupindera, C.B. Arun, Rahul Kulsheshtra, Sound: Vikram Joglekar, Madan Rajan, Music: Shubha Mudhgal, Choreography, dance: Maya Krishna, Rao costumes and make-up: Kunhikrishnan, Graphics: Anurag Gupta, Production: Ein Lall, Purnima Singh
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