Nautanki - A short introduction

An introduction to Nautanki, a theatrical genre, as performed particularly in the region of Hathras, Vrindavan and Mathura in India. This is a trailer, the complete film is in production.

Extract from Wikipedia:
The history of the Nautanki performative tradition (also referred to as Swang) goes back several hundred years. Nautanki's origins lie in the folk performance traditions of Bhagat and Raasleela of Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, and Khayal of Rajasthan. Nautanki's history becomes clearer in the nineteenth century with the coming of the printing press in India and publication of Nautanki operas in the form of chap-books.

Nautanki reached the pinnacle of its glory in the early 20th century when numerous Nautanki performing troupes, known as mandalis (literal meaning: groups) and akharas (literal meaning: wrestling arenas) came into existence. Nautanki mandalis were called akharas due to the prevalence of particular style of singing in Nautanki that required a lot of physical power. The Nautankis staged by these akharas became the main source of entertainment in the small towns and villages of Northern India, and remained as such until television and VCRs began to make inroads beginning in the early 1990s.

Riding on its popularity, Nautanki progressed both in terms of form as well as content and its stage became bigger and more professional. Nautanki companies like Natharam's mandali, catching the cue from big Parsi theater (an urban Indian theater style) troupes such as Alfred Theater Company, started to present their performances outside the core region of its audience. Some performances occurred as far as in Rangoon, Burma.

Nautanki still holds a strong influence over rural peoples' imagination, and even after the spread of mass media (such as television and radio), a crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 can be seen at the top Nautanki performances. Like many other folk forms of India, Nautanki's status has been badly affected by the apathy of the political leadership, and the attitude of looking down upon the indigenous Indian artistic traditions by the powerful urban-based elites suffering from a post-colonial hangover (colonial after-effects on the psychology of Indian elites).

Source: Devendra Sharma,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautanki

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Nautanki
• Hathras
• Vrindavan
• Mathura
• swaang
• saangeet
• theatre
• India
• folk
• tradition
• veteran
• artists
• south asian
• theater
• drama
• musical
• kalgi
• turra
• swang
• uttar
• pradesh
• UP

[TheSukritikhurana]

Also, further documentation/research will not include these details at all, as the evidences will fade out with time. Its our responsibility to take care of this issue. 

[sanjaymaharishi]

@TheSukritikhurana I appreciate your concern. This is only a trailer. The complete film is yet to be made. Thanks very much for your comments.

[TheSukritikhurana]

Your effort is much appreciated, but I'm wondering that the maker has made a video/short film on nautanki, and there is no mention of the great artist Gulab bai?

[sanjaymaharishi]

@TheSukritikhurana thanks for your appreciation. You have viewed the video very keenly. We could not get good quality video of Gulab Bai but both her daughters are here.

[baokhunguri]

Looking forward to the film

[sanjaymaharishi]

@baokhunguri thank you!

[TheGuildenstern]

Sanjay Maharishi ji- My name is Atul Kumar, I am a theatre director from Mumbai. Is it possible to get your e-mail id or phone number please? You may contact me on atul.tct@gmail.com or 9324288302. Thanks- Atul

[TheSukritikhurana]

Asha and Madhu- daughters of Gulab bai. :) she had lot of hopes from them, and I guess they are doing commendable work in these commercial times (correct me, if I'm wrong). Even if the videos weren't of good quality, Gulab bai should have been mentioned as she is doyen of Nautanki. As responsible artists we should not miss important details in documentation as people who view this as an introduction to Nautanki, will be misguided (to some extent). 

[satish1971kumar]

very good nautanki i like it

thank you abhishek

[madannirwan]

thxs for 9tanki

[sanjaymaharishi]

@maithily357 Thank you very much for your comment... it means a lot to me. The coming down of the standards of performance is not just in Nautanki, but all around us.