A scene from Shapmochan staged on Friday at the Bangladesh National Museum. — Snighdha Zaman

Indian troupe Diksha Manjari staged ‘Shapmochan’ choreographed by Kolkata based dancer Dona Ganguly, wife of former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly, in Odissi style on Friday.
A packed audience at the Bangladesh National Museum enjoyed the Tagore’s dance drama, which features the story of divinity of love that frees a prince from a curse.
‘Shapmochan’ is a story of two lovers who are banished from heaven and sent to earth because they are consumed by their passion, to an extent that they neglect their heavenly duties and responsibilities.
The lovers encounter numerous obstacles and hurdles after their rebirth on earth, and are required to make tremendous sacrifices and endure great pains and sufferings before they are reunited.
Dona, in the role of Komolika, who is reborn on earth as a princess, gave a fabulous performance portraying different emotions with her skilful dance. On the other hand, Raghunath Das, in the role of Aruneshwar, who becomes an ugly prince after being cursed, entertained the audience all through the drama.
The drama gains momentum while Komolika finally gets to see the ugly face of Auneshwar and leaves him. The entire performance, accompanied with voice-over, background sound and lighting, successfully engaged the audience in the suspense. Finally, the lovers are reunited and the crowd, with repeated applause, greeted the performers at the end of the show.
Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, High Commission of India, Dhaka, as part of the ongoing joint celebrations, by India and Bangladesh, of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, organised the event.
The second show of the dance drama will be held today at Bangladesh Hall in Jessore.