Folk Theatre

The death of Traditional Form of Theatre.

There has been entertainment,even before Cinemas,Television and of course the internet Explosion.But, Does today’s generation have any idea of how the Entertainment in the past was like ? 

The once a upon time trend of Flash mob was InFact the closest one would get to experience live entertainment in the traditional form.

But,have  you heard about  “Tamasha”- not the movie,but a form of entertainment in Maharasthra. Which is driven from a persian word meaning a theatrical entertainment of some kind . was  actually different forms of dance available in maharshtra like the Lavanis,Khatak and ghazals performed by artist in village and rurual environment as a form of entertainment displaying the culture of the place as a tourist attraction and as a way of passing the time. 

But,Besides Movies  showcasing this  Form of theatre,This form of theatre   is seeing the death of our culture in the state.Not just in maharshtra,Northern India too hasn’t seen “Ramlila”a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama, ending up in ten-day battle between Rama  and Ravana.

A form of street play telling you the story of Ramayana, Which in today’s time hasn’t been witnessed by many in the form of play.  Because of the Television,Movies and Social Media giving away the one of the most self validated experience  form of entertainment through Audio Visual and will never be able  through Experiencing it.  

We have forgotten what its  like to experience culturally rich form of storytelling in its actual format as plays. 

its also because of patience, Fame and Money that performers like to act and be part of the larger mass media reach ,rather than travel across with a team for performances and get some self- satisfaction .That is why this form of entertainment has died a natural death  

Nautanki another word for street play used in Uttar Pradesh and for    romantic tales, mythologies, or biographies of local heroes       

The pleasure of Nautanki lies in the intense melodic exchanges between two or three performers; a chorus is used sometimes.These performances last 6-8 hours.narrating the complete story in a performance.The artist too have lost the time and the audience too have dwindled to make this form of entertainment nearly extinct     

These are some of the most popular forms of entertainment of the past,which have lost its appeal and these need to  be part of the culture once again as novelty experiences,For the youth to realise how things have changed in the past,And for another reason how important its to understand Human Connection.