Shri Saikat Kumar Basu:-Cultural Artist, Iconic Soumee De’s MA KALI-The Timeless Goddess at AVAI, at Apsaras Arts, Singapore

Shri Saikat Kumar Basu is an Indian-Canadian Scientist. He is also a freelance journalist who writes on environment, ecology,international development and social issues.

Review :

“This year’s Valentine’s Day marked for some of us a departure from the veneration of Madhana, the God of Love, as we chose instead to spend the evening watching Soumee De’s Kali- The Timeless Goddess at AVAI at Apsaras Arts. A strange choice, perhaps, spending a day earmarked for eros and romance on devotion and piety. Yet there was more meaning in this choice than we had realised. While there was love in this performance – indeed love of a higher order – there was as well an urgent call to create a space safe enough where light-hearted endeavours like candlelit dinners can even be possible.  

Soumee’s performance opened innocuously enough, with a Mangaldhwani Pallavi which perfectly illustrated the elegant beauty of Odissi. Focusing on the primordial vibration echoing through all of life since it began, while utilising the raga which imitates the blossoming of a flower, the dance blended greatness with the minute, in its own way symbolising the complexity of Mother Kali herself and what she represents – time and motherhood. The beauty of the performance remained with us with the following segments, giving us an aching glimpse of a paradise that perhaps we have fallen from, but one still within our grasp. 

The next segment was an intriguing marriage of dance and storytelling. What was especially fascinating was the almost effortless way in which Soumee wove these two techniques together, creating a performance that was extremely accessible while retaining its epic tone. The mythical tale of the creation of the universe at the whim of Mother Kali, as the result of, as the emcee informed the startled audience, ‘the bodily functions’ of the Goddess, successfully reframed our understanding of the world and our place in it, especially when the dancer cheekily informed us that we human beings had crawled into existence out of Mother Kali’s excrement! Soumee’s narration triumphantly brought back the rawness and vitality of myth, which frequently becomes lost when streamlined by bourgeois patriarchal values and interpretations. At the same time, it was also a celebration of the divine feminine as the ultimate mother creator of the universe, beautifully and powerfully painting a feminine, maternal world view. This is vitally punctuated by an inferred reminder towards the end of the segment, that she who created us could destroy us too. The poignancy of the reminder hits the audience as the performance progresses to the next segment.

The third segment, central to the entire performance both in terms of sequence and content, was a Shyama Sangeet, a Bengali song titled Ekbar Nacho Ma (Dance one more time). The context was the Bengali Agomoni (arrival), a performance meant to welcome the Goddess back to earth. Soumee plays Tilottama, a doctor who is participating in Agomoni, inviting the Goddess with love and devotion. Even for the audience members who made the connection early enough, this segment was deeply devastating as we come to realise it is in fact the story of the injustice suffered by Dr Tilottama of Kolkata who was brutally raped and murdered. With unswerving courage Soumee enacts the rape for us, using minimalistic gestures such as covering her own mouth in what still comes across as horrendously realistic, forcing us to face up to and silently witness the atrocity that continues to be perpetuated in the modern world. Her performance evokes the painful irony of the desecration faced by a woman in a state that deifies women. Tilottama lovingly invites Mother Kali to cast off her fierce and fiery image to relax by singing, dancing and beautifying herself. Here she compares Kali to Krishna, suggesting that she should take on the ease and merriment Krishna is always associated with. This sweet gender equal invitation to joy is abruptly and violently annihilated by the rape that follows. Such a powerful sequencing of the narrative forces the audience to acknowledge the impossibility for women to enjoy with ease the same simple pleasures as men. The song’s refrain ‘Ekbar Nacho Ma’ now takes on new meaning. It is no longer a request to partake in celebrations but instead an entreaty for Kali to resume once again her cosmic dance of destruction, to arrive as the figure of justice who can destroy the men who once emerged from her excrement and now perpetuate filth. 

Tilottama’s entreaty fits perfectly with the fourth segment, the Durga Stuti, masterfully choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, presenting the return of the Goddess to earth. This piece was especially moving, taking on an almost trance-like quality in reminding us of the tragedy and trauma of the previous segment. Soumee presents the multiple facets of Mother Kali, ranging from the compassionate to the victorious warrior goddess. The overwhelming empathy gives a beautiful, unexpected balance to the portrayal of Mother Kali, making her a more nuanced figure than a mere avenging persona. The final segment of Moksha was deliberately open-ended, making us wonder if we were indeed seeing justice served as Mother Kali dissolves this horrible world, or if that is an idealised outcome – the poetic justice we hope for, or whether we have to simply accept the cold, painfully neutral cyclical nature of all things in this world.    

Kali- the Timeless Goddess was a timely performance, clearly demonstrating that classical Indian dance forms should not be made into mere aesthetic relics of the past, but instead should retain the vitality and relevance that they have always been capable of. By connecting Odissi to contemporary times and issues, Soumee turns dance itself into a true symbol of the divine, as dance, just like God, is always relevant and current. Although the performance, as the emcee informed us, thoughtfully ended early enough so that the audience could proceed with their Valentine’s Day plans, we left the venue with heavy hearts, contemplating the astounding safety and support needed for half of humanity to live a normal life and enjoy banal everyday pleasures. We need artists like Soumee with their avant-garde conceptualisation, directing and performance, to reenact Mother Kali’s dynamic dance again and again, to provoke our conscience to rally to the call for justice, and truly create a world where, perhaps, finally, the Goddess can relax her vigilance.  

Review by Hemang Yadav, playwright, dramaturg, director, theatre practitioner based in Singapore. He is a member of the writers’ collective Brown Voices.

Credits & Acknowledgement for Kali- the timeless goddess premier:

Concept, direction and performance by Soumee De

Choreographies by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and Soumee De

Script by Prof Ashis K Siddhant and Soumee De

Music compositions by Shri Debashis Sarkar, Ratikant Mohapatra, Sri Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya

Costume design by MOHA (Mohanapriyan Thavarajah)

Make up by Sankary 

Lights by Vidhya Venkat

Sound by Jude Praveen S

Photos & Videos by Lijesh Karunakaran 

Premiered at Remembering Neila Sathyalingam Festival 2025 by Apsaras Arts Dance Company, Singapore 

About the Artiste:

Soumee is a versatile dancer, teacher, and choreographer, trained in Indian Classical Dance and Theatre. Currently, she trains in Odissi under Guru Ratikant Mohapatra at Srjan, Bhubaneswar, and in acting methodologies under Guru Venu G at Natanakairali, Kerala. She also holds a Sangeet Prabhakar diploma in Kathak from Pracheen Kala Kendra. Soumee teaches Odissi to local students at Apsaras Arts Academy. She is co-founder of “Ethos – Exploring the Odissi Spirit,” a dance collective for Odissi performers, and is dedicated to preserving and promoting the art form. She also conducts storytelling workshops for young audiences at museums and the Artground, Singapore. She has performed at numerous prestigious festivals, including The Story Fest, the Darshana Series by Apasaras Arts, Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society Festival, Nrityalaya’s Bhaskareeyam, Temple of Fine Arts’ Shantanjali, and NCPA’s Vistaar. Beyond the arts, Soumee is an accomplished professional with a degree in Economics, an MBA from XLRI, India, and over 20 years of experience in Human Resources & management consulting in the banking & financial services sector across Asia. Her unique blend of artistic passion and professional expertise makes her a dynamic and inspiring figure in the performing arts community.