Tamasha: How it’s done?

The emergence of Tamasha was in 18^th-19^th century. It bridged the gaps between all the traditional folk forms of the Maharashtra region and the dignified song and dance drama routines performed by skilled actors. The one who manages the Tamasha performing party is known as ‘Phadkari’. The performance begins with the ‘Gans’ which are songs specifically sung for the devotion of deity, mostly the Hindu God Ganesha.

Performers of Tamasha in middle of the play. Picture Courtesy: http://www.natarang.org/

After the songs are sung, the dancers appear in front of the audience. They don’t face the audience immediately and have their backs turned towards them. They usually have their heads covered up with a saree. With the rhythmic beats of the ‘dholkiwala’, the dancers dramatically turn and face the crowd and begin their dance routine. This takes us to the next level of the performance where there is usually a narration of the life of the Hindu God Krishna. In the mean time, the main dancer appears in front of the crowd and enthralls them with a song which is like ‘Lavani’. Lavani is also a popular traditional song and dance art form of Maharastra. It is usually performed on the beats of ‘Dholki’ a percussion instrument.

The main dancer serves as the ‘Sutradhar’ to the play. The play takes a proper shape just afterwards this act. The dance performances are mostly taken up from other traditional dance forms of India. The dancers wear ‘ghungroo’, a kind of anklet that ‘Kathak’ dancers wear while dancing also. Though the two dance forms are not really the same. Tamasha dancers have distinct dance steps and hip movements; those differ from the classical dance form of Kathak. Although the co-ordination among the dancers, the footfalls with the rhythm of the music are quite similar in both the cases.

Tamasha plays are written by skilled composers as in ‘Jatra’ in West Bengal, ‘Nautanki’ in Uttar Pradesh and ‘Bhavai’ in Gujrat and Rajasthan. But unlike a men-only cast in Jatra; Nautanki; and Bhavai, Tamasha has both male and female performers.