Nautanki Themes

         Themes

     Nautanki, secular to the roots, is a beautiful blend of the Hindu-Muslim folk cultures.   Its language, music, costumes, themes and characters reflect the mixed social set-up.  The austere Muslims who came as conquerors in the eleventh and twelfth centuries slowly adopted the ways of local Hindus, and the Hindus slowly accepted Muslim influence in their arts.  During the long Moghul rule, the arts reflected a synthesis of the two cultures.  The classical Kathak dancers, steeped in Radha-Krishna lore, are dressed in Persian tunics and girdles.  The Rajput miniatures of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries are an expression of the gilded refinement of Moghul courts and Hindu myths and legends.  The Nautanki also manifests the vitality the two cultures.

Religious tales digested in the Nautanki have a secular coloring.  Even in as sacred a play as Raja Harishchandra, ("The Truthful King Harischandra"), when the noble Queen Taramati begs money for the cremation of her dead son, she dances kicking her heels and swinging her lips.  In a religious tale Sita sings of her tragic plight while casting "come-hither" glances.

The Nautankis were mostly written in Personalized Urdu with a mixture of Braj, Hindi and Rajastani.  The courtly language of the Nautankis required the composer to select ornate music and to draw from the classical ragas. the chief regional variants of the classical ragas are bhairavi, bilawal, peelu and kamaj.  It gives the classical melody a directness, an edge, a rural vigor.

Famous Nautankis are: Tippu Sultan, Amsr Singh Rathaur, Prithviraj Chauhan, Rani Durgawati, Panna Dai - all historical plays championing valor, honesty, and faithfulness.  Among the religious ones are: Ram Banwas, Shrawan Kumar, Nala Damayanti, Mordhwaj, Raja Harischandra.  Popular social romances are : Triya Chitra ("Witchery of a Woman"), Reshmi Rumal ("Silken Handkerchief"), Shahi Lakarhara ("The Royal Woodcutter"), Sultana Daku ("Sultana, the woman Bandit"), Siyah Posh("The man in the Black Mask).

The story from which Nautaki takes the name tells of Princess Nautani of Multan, a famous beauty.  In a neighbouring state live two brothers Bhup Singh and Phool Singh.   One day the younger, Phool Singh handsome,adventurous, and rash, returns from hunting and asks his brother's wife to serve him food quickly.  She taunts him saying that he is behaving as if her were the husband of the beautiful Nautanki.  Insulted, he leaves home, vowing that he will not return until he has married Nautanki.  His faithful friend Yashwant Singh accompanies him.  On reaching Multan, they meet the flower woman of the palace and beg her to allow them to stay in her fut.  

Every day this flower woman carries a garland of fresh flowers to the princess.  Phool Singh, expert in the art of floral decoration, offers to weave a garland for the prince if his hostess will cook for him.  The flower woman takes the garland to the princess, who suspects that someone else has prepared it and flies into a rage.  The terrified flower woman explains that her nephew's young wife has been on a short visit and that she had prepared the garland.  The princess commands her to produce the young wife and the flower woman returns to her hut greatly perturbed.  Phool Singh calms her, suggesting that he is in a superb disguise and will not be recognized if he puts on a woman's clothes.  The flower woman takes Phool Singh, disguised as a beautiful woman, to the princess, who is stuck by his beauty.  She offers her friendship and insists that Phool singh stay in her chamber.  He agrees.  At night the princess sighs that if Phool Singh was a man, she would marry him.  Phool Singh asks her to close her eyes, meditate and concentrate on the household deity and invoke her blessings to turn one of them into a man.  This the princess does, and when she opens her eyes, she finds that her friend has turned into a man.  A love scene follows.  In the morning the palace maid reports the matter to the king, who orders the young man arrested and killed.  Nautanki, carrying a sword and cup of poison, reaches the spot where Phool Singh is awaiting death.  She drives off the executioners and challenges her father.  The king, deeply touched, agrees to her marriage with Phool Singh.

Nautanki stories are full of noble bandits, brave fighters and truthful lovers.They emphasize courage, nobility and gallantry.  Events take place at fast pace.  Gods, wizards and nymphs have free social intercourse with Kings, palace maids, robbers and landlords creating a fanciful world with intense appeal. 

Source: Google, Rangvarta magazine