Monday, October 31, 2005

Bhavai


Bhavai(Strolling Players) is a popular folk theatre form of Gujarat. Veshas(means costume) or Bhavai plays are also known as swang. The origin of Bhavai goes back to 14th Century.It is said that Hemala Patel's(a resident of a village called Unza) daughter Ganga was kidnapped by a Muslim Subedar. Their family priest Asait Thakar, a resident of Siddhapur, rushed to the subedar claiming Ganga to be his own daughter.Subedar asked Asait Thakar to eat with Ganga from the same plate to prove that she is really his daughter. Asait did that but for this he incurred the ire of his own caste men and was excommunicated as he had taken food with a low caste Ganga. He started earning his living by performing plays which later came to be known as Bhavai.

The caste of the performers of Bhavai came to be known as tragala.In one of his long poems Asaita has given the date of the composition as AD 1360. Thus it seems that Bhavai as a dramatic form emerged in the late 14th century.Asait wrote about 360 plays, out of which some 60 have survived. Some of these veshas bear his name. It is clear from the bhavai performance that this form must have evolved from the earlier known forms of folk entertainment. The word Bhavai in the sense of a show or spectacle occurs in the 13th century Apabhramsa Jain religious verse. It says: "In a tree-less tract even a bunch of eranda(caster oil plant) makes a good show (Bhavai)." Abul Fazal’s Ain-e-Akbari also mentions Bhavai while mentioning some communities.

Bhavai is as much a form of entertainment as it is a kind of ritual offering made to Goddess Amba. In the courtyard of the Ambaji temple near Mount Abu the Navratri festival is celebrated with Bhavai performances. Amba is the presiding deity of Bhavai. Bhavai according to some scholars is made up of two words- Bhava and Aai. Bhava means universe and aai is mother, together it means mother of the universe, Amba.

Subtle social criticism laced with pungent humour is the speciality of Bhavai. The pompus and incongrous behaviour of the high caste people is scoffed at in Bhavai. Probably the anger over injustice suffered by the originator of Bhavai, Asaita Thakar, got permeated into the art of Bhavai. Some of the Bhavai plays present a scathing review of the caste-riden social structure. People belonging to different levels of social strata ranging from king to knave are portrayed in Bhavai.

Bhavai Veshas protray people from all classes of society. The barbers, knife-sharpeners, robbers, bangle sellers and social and economic thieves, banjaras, odas, fakirsand sadhus, darjis. There is a Vesha depicting the story of ansuccesful love affair of a Bania woman and a Muslim Thanedar. At the end of the play Jasma Odan, a Muslim fakir appears to whom people request to revive Jasma.

Humor plays a vital part in any Bhavai performance and comes into play even while dealing with mythological personages. This predominance makes Bhavai unique among the traditional arts of India.

The chief of the Bhavai troupe is called Nayak. He first marks the performing arena, then offers kumkum to the oil-torch which is a symbol of goddess Amba and sings prayer songs in her praise. Then enters an actor covering his face with a plate, he is Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. Goddess Kali is the next to enter and after she departs comes the Brahmana.After these preliminary appearances the Vesha actually starts.

The Nayak and the jester always remain on the stage directing the course of action with their commentary and intervention. Through songs, dialogues, speeches in prose and verse the story unfolds. There is lot of dancing and singing in Bhavai. Female characters are acted by men.

The language of Bhavai is a blend of Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, and Marwari. Veshas were published for the first time in the nineteenth century. Past performances were linked to their predecessors through practice and the oral tradition.

The bhungal is a four feet long copper pipe that provides a strong note and is unique to Bhavai. The bhungals are played during dance sequences and otherwise to indicate important characters. Other musical instruments that form part of Bhavai are the pakhwaja (drums), jhanjha (cymbals), the sarangi (a stringed instrument), and the harmonium. The style of music is always Hindustani interspersed with local tunes.

Bhavai is also prevalent in Rajasthan as a folk dance comprising of a spectacular performance. The Dance form consists of veiled women dancers balancing upto seven or nine brass pitchers as they dance nimbly, pirouetting and then swaying with the soles of their feet perched on the top of a glass or on the edge of the sword. There is a sense of cutting edge suspense and nail biting acts in the dance.

Wikilink

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Muthyalamaduvu

This is my second article on wikipedia to posted here. Its about a picnic spot near my hometown. Though a small article but contains my first uploaded and formatted image on wikipedia. Visit the wikipage.

Muthyalamaduvu is a picnic spot near Anekal, 40kms from Bangalore.It has a 92 metre high waterfall coming down like the drops of pearl.The source of water is from nearby Onakanahalli Tank. Muthyalamaduvu in local language means 'pearl valley'(muthu = pearl and maduvu = valley).The best time for a visit is during rainy season.It is known for its verdant surroundings and is a great weekend getaway for the urban crowd.There are quite a few resorts nearby.It also has an KSTDC run restaurant.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Smitha Patil




This is my first article for the democratic encyclopedia after I announced myself as an editor. For more detailed article,visit the wikipage Smitha Patil.I could not upload her photos because I was too lazy to read the picture tutorial..Anyway uploading it here.

Smita Patil was the daughter of a minister and a social-worker mother. Born in Pune, Maharashtra, she studied at a Marathi medium school. Her first tryst with the camera was as a television newscaster. Her dusky beauty and large eyes drew attention. Always a bit of a rebel, she would grin when people complimented her on looking lovely in the saris she sported for the telecasts because minutes before going on air, she would have hurriedly wrapped the sari over her jeans.

One of the major beneficiaries of the mid-1970s efflorescence of the art movement in Hindi cinema, Smita's film career got off the ground courtesy mentor Shyam Benegal. After he cast her in the children's film Charandas Chor [1975], and in a small role in Nishant [1975], Smita seemed to suddenly hold a monopoly over Benegal. For a while, she even seemed to have won him away from Shabana Azmi, with whom the filmmaker had done some excellent work in Ankur and Nishant.

Smita sprang to the spotlight with Benegal's Manthan [1977], where she played a Harijan woman who spearheads a revolt at the milk co-operative. Next, Benegal cast her in a more demanding role --- Bhumika [1977]. A fictionalised biography of Indian actress Hansa Wadkar, Bhumika won Smita the National Award for Best Actress. Smita played the complex role of an actress struggling to lead her life on her own terms (through her chequered history with four men --- Amol Palekar, Anant Nag, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri) and imbued it with an insight that belied her 22 years!

Smita staunchly believed in realistic cinema and accepted offers from new wave directors like Muzaffar Ali [Gaman, 1979] and Dharamraj [Chakra, 1981). For the latter, she visted jhopadpatis (slums) as part of her research and it culminated in another National Award.

With Govind Nihalani she worked in the scorchingly intense Aakrosh [1980], where she played a tribal woman who is brutally raped and murdered. She worked with Satyajit Ray in his television film Sadgati [1981].

In a bid to sate her gnawing need for good roles, Smita ventured into the regional arena too with the Marathi movie Jait Re Jait [1978], Mrinal Sen's Bengali film Akaler Sandhaney [1980] and Ketan Mehta's much acclaimed debut in Gujarati cinema, Bhavni Bhavai [1980].

As long as it revealed the psyche of her character, Smita was game to go the extra mile --- she did a bathing scene in the open for Chakra, some intense love-making scenes in Aakrosh and even kissed Kulbhushan Kharbanda's toes in Arth.

In the early 1980s, Smita finally relented and trained her sights on commercial cinema. She won new fans with the blockbuster Namak Halal [1982] opposite Amitabh. Their together item song and dance rain number Aaj rapat jaaye showed her in an entirely new light. Ramesh Sippy's Shakti opposite Amitabh followed in 1982.

At this stage, Smita's often indiscriminate choice of films left her as bewildered as her fans. Her peripheral roles in Badle Ki Aag, Dil-e-Nadaan and Qayamat were a waste of raw stock and her rare appeal.

Smita had qualms about going the whole commercial hog (lore has it that she cried after shooting Aaj rapat jaaye). She was arguably the best in the realistic films which she continued to encourage like Mandi (as the prostitute who has an incestuous relationship) and Subah (as the housewife who learns to be self-reliant).


Smita was compared ad nauseum with Shabana Azmi, her senior and rival in the off-beat films' arena. So when the two were pitted opposite each other in Arth [1983], comparisons were inevitable. Shabana had the sympathetic author-backed role but Smita's on-the-edge characterisation of a guilt-ridden mistress had its fair share of admirers, including Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan.

Smita had that rare ability to stand out even in a supporting role --- witness Nihalani's Ardh Satya [1983], the 1984 hit Aaj Ki Awaaz and J P Dutta's Ghulami [1985].

By the mid-1980s Smita was regularly paired with Rajesh Khanna --- Aakhir Kyon [1985], Amrit [1986] and Nazrana [1987] --- and there was a noticeable rise in her glamour quotient. Her earlier harum scarum look segued to her picture-perfect makeup in her popular Aakhir Kyon song Dushman na kare.

A series of largely-forgettable films and a much-discussed marriage with the much-married Raj Babbar was an ineluctable part of this mercurial phase of Smita's short but eventful life and career.

Smita Patil died on December 14, 1986. She was only 31 years old. Yet, over the course of over 70 films since her debut at age 17 in Shyam Benegal's Charandas Chor, Smita established herself as one of the greatest actresses of the Indian screen. Her extraordinary presence, beauty and intelligence made her a symbol of independence, courage and integrity to millions.

In 1985, Smita was honoured with the 'Padmashri' by the President of India. Shyam Benegal says, 'She was a director's actress. She never held back or resisted direction. The quality of her performance often depended on the quality of the director.' 'I signed her for Namak Halal against all odds,' said Prakash Mebra, 'The same people who felt I had committed a blunder, complemented me on the release of the film. It was a glamorous role and she was the right choice.'

Monday, October 17, 2005

Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

Wikipedia is GOD. I realized this after going through auto pages for a quick brush up for the Auto Quiz. Well, we won it.
You can see nikhil's blog for more details.
Though the end of the day was more like the climax in Dweepa,the kasaravalli national award winning movie. I and shashank were found sitting just like Soundarya in the movie.

The whole point of this post is that the blog is taking a new form. As a self-claimed wikipedia editor, I am going to post all my wikipedia activities here. There will be no more long months of wait for my power to write a post. It's wiki for sure from now onwards.