About The Event
Ank's 50th Year Production
Veera Rani Abbakka
The Queen of the Seas, the Fearless Flame of Ullala
Writing, Design & Direction: Preeta Mathur Thakur
Set Design: Atul Tiwari
Dialogues: Richa Sharad
Costumes: Mala Dey
Dance Choreography: Tanusree Gupta
Sound: Aman Gupta
In the 1500s, Portuguese warships swarm the western coast of India, masking their economic greed under the guise of "protection." While the rulers of Tulunadu look away, and her own husband, King Lakshmappa of Mangalore, trades sovereignty for foreign favours, Queen Veera Abbakka of Ullala stands alone. Bound by a deathbed oath to avenge her mother's humiliation at the hands of the colonisers, she sees the chilling truth: trade today means chains tomorrow.
Choosing her people over politics, Abbakka defies her nobles. She fortifies Ullala, builds a lethal navy, and aligns with the Samudrin (Zamorin) of Calicut to smuggle spices to the Middle East, shattering the Portuguese monopoly. When the invaders seize her vessel, she answers with fire, storming and crushing the Mangalore Fort.
What follows is an epic war of wits and steel. Facing overwhelming cannon fire, the "Abhaya Rani" (Fearless Queen) weaponises subterfuge, leading lethal guerrilla strikes that push the invaders back to Goa. Yet her greatest threat lies not at sea, but at home, where a resentful husband and whispering traitors plot her downfall.
A century before the British East India Company would enslave the subcontinent, Rani Abbakka divined the colonial blueprint and became one of the vanguard heroes of Indian resistance, the first woman freedom fighter of the country. Imbued with the vibrant energy of Yakshagana, the traditional folk theatre of Karnataka that has kept her legend alive for generations, this play weaves an oral history through dramatic performance into a thrilling saga of defiance.
