* As a child
I remember watching the stories of Buddha, Nala-Damayanti, Bharthari,
Harishchandra, Dushyant-Shakuntala and so many other Puranic tales, performed
by various Nautanki groups that visited our village. It was fun and education
watching those dramas, through the whole night. Even after more than four
decades, I vividly remember some of these. A few have been mentioned in this
blog. Unlike the movies, who in the name
of cinematic liberty, often distort the actual tale, the nautanki groups preserved
the essence and character of the story, as it was written or told.
* Nautanki was born out of folklore of North India. There
was a princess with incomparable beauty who was so delicate that she weighed
only as much as a flower. This folklore took the shape of a drama then known
as sangeets (musicals) by the name, Nautanki Shehzadi ("The
Story of Princess Nautanki"). Soon it became so popular that the name
became that of the genre itself. The word, nautanki, comprises two
words, nau meaning "nine" and tank referring
to a "silver coin, weighing four grams". It metaphorically implied
that the graceful princess weighed only 36 grams.
* It was famous folk theater, popular in
northern India, especially in Uttar Pradesh. Before the
advent of cinema in India, it was the most popular form of entertainment
prevalent in these areas. Usually a nautanki consisted of folklore and mythological dramas with
interludes of folk songs
and dances.
*
TV and
multiplexes have slowly and steadily killed this excellent art, which a few
decades ago enthralled the rural and semi-urban India. Sadly, it has become
extinct. Often in solitude I mourn the sad demise of my favourite drama form.
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