22 September,2026 11:58 AM IST | Mumbai | Suprita Mitter
The cast enacts a scene during the Mumbai premiere. Pics courtesy/ Ank Theatre
Some stories refuse to stay buried. For Preeta Mathur Thakur, the story of Rani Abbakka of Ullala was one of them. Nearly a decade after the 16th-century warrior queen first caught her attention, Thakur has brought her to the stage with the play Veera Rani Abbakka-The Queen of the Seas, The Fearless Flame of Ullala, ANK's new production marking the theatre group's 50th year. The play premiered in Mumbai on September 18 as ANK's 88th production, with more performances scheduled in the weeks ahead.
A moment from a previous staging of the production
Abbakka ruled the coastal kingdom of Ullala in present-day Karnataka and resisted Portuguese attempts to control the region's maritime trade. For Thakur, what makes her story compelling is not merely that she fought the Portuguese, but that she understood what their growing presence could mean for the sovereignty of her kingdom. "They had come to trade, and assured us that they would protect our sea routes because they were good navigators. But she could gauge that today they would ask them for a tax and tomorrow, tell them what to do, how to trade, and eventually, take over the administration of their states."
Preeta Mathur Thakur in a scene during a staging of the play
The production draws from historical accounts as well as the oral traditions. The research, however, was hardly straightforward. The more she researched, Thakur found that there were references to several queens named Abbakka, with conflicting dates and accounts.
"I discovered that there were three, four queens who all carried the name of Abbakka. It became a house name," she explains. She began piecing together the story from books, archival material and accounts of foreign travellers. She also travelled to Mangaluru and Ullala, visiting the temples and sites associated with the queen. The palaces and forts connected to Abbakka have disappeared, but some of the temples she visited remain.
The story marks Thakur's first foray as a playwright
The research eventually became a play. Mathur Thakur worked with writer Richa Sharad to develop the script, with Mathur Thakur first mapping the story and its incidents before the two worked together on scenes and dialogue. "She inspired me to write about her. I have never written a play," she admits.
The play is in Hindi, partly because Mathur Thakur wants to take Abbakka's story to audiences who may never have encountered her. In Karnataka, the queen's legend has lived on through Yakshagana (a vibrant traditional dance-drama theatre form that originated in Karnatak's coastal districts) and oral storytelling. The production incorporates elements of that theatrical tradition, including two narrators who enter in Yakshagana-inspired costumes and movement. "They narrate in Hindi," says Mathur Thakur. "Sometimes, they take the scenes forward; sometimes they explain a scene more elaborately."
With a cast of nearly 26 actors, the production brings together music, movement, and elaborate battle sequences. But at its heart, Thakur says, it is about bringing back into public memory a woman whose story, despite its scale, has remained largely outside mainstream historical narratives.
Founded by actor, director and theatre-maker Dinesh Thakur (inset) in 1976, its early productions were staged in unconventional spaces, including a Durga Puja pandal in Bandra. ANK has staged 88 productions and over 7700 performances in India and abroad.
ON September 27; 7 pm onwards
AT INT Aditya Birla Theatre, Babulnath.
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ON October 8, 9; 8 pm
AT Prithvi Theatre, Juhu.
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ENTRY Rs 770 onwards
