Nautanki as a performative art form of north India

Authors

  • Kajal Kapoor BA (Honours) English, Amity University

Keywords:

Art, Kanpur, Theatre, Nautanki, Lucknow

Abstract

In entire north India, Nautanki was the most popular entertainment art before the arrival of Cinema. The most popular centers of this traditional theatre form are Kanpur, Lucknow, and Haathras. Nautanki dramas were fine-tuned; its protagonists were highly skilled. Few props were used, yet actors created forests, rivers, battles and royal courts by the sorcery of their art. In contemporary times, the street plays resemble Nautanki. Nautanki stories range from mythological and folk tales to stories of contemporary heroes. This popular art has now dwindled and its existence is in threat, It was a part of education. Nobody read Raja Harishchandra but everybody knew it. Therefore, Nautanki is the most powerful medium in the world; hence, it should be provided means to keep the art alive.

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References

Chatterjee, I. (2012). When “Sexuality” Floated Free of Histories in South Asia. The Journal of Asian Studies, 71(4), 945-962.

Chatterjee, K. (2008). The Persianization of Itihasa: Performance Narratives and Mughal Political Culture in Eighteenth-Century Bengal. The Journal of Asian Studies, 67(2), 513-543.

Mehrotra, D. P. (2006). Gulab Bai: the queen of Nautanki theatre. Penguin Books India.

Steindorf, S. A. (2008). Walking against the wind: negotiating television and modernity in rural Rajasthan. Syracuse University.

Published

2017-01-10

How to Cite

Kapoor, K. (2017). Nautanki as a performative art form of north India. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 3(1), 7–16. Retrieved from https://sloap.org/journals/index.php/ijllc/article/view/185

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1: January 2017

Section

Research Articles
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