E-Paper
For the love of Ramlila: Professionals embrace their mythic avatars
Teacher, government employee, nurse sales executive, doctor, meter reader and engineer, what is common between them you ask? They all share a passion for Ramlilas and each night they don ornate robes of gods and demons, embracing their mythic avatars at the Rajguru Nagar re-enactment of the Ramayana
Teacher, government employee, nurse sales executive, doctor, meter reader and engineer, what is common between them you ask? They all share a passion for Ramlilas and each night they don ornate robes of gods and demons, embracing their mythic avatars at the Rajguru Nagar re-enactment of the Ramayana .
Chandni, a 25-year-old nurse, has been essaying the role of Sita for the last 10 years, Anuj Pandey, a computer science teacher from Prayagraj plays the role of Lord Rama, while Praveen, a meter reader with the state electricity department, plays his devoted brother Lakshmana.
Playing Hanuman is Ayurvedic doctor Narinder Kumar. “I have been playing the role for the last 10 years. Each year, I try to better myself. The role has affected me in real life as well, and made me a go-getter, much like my on-stage persona,” he says.
Ask him about his theatrical aspirations and he says, “I used to play minor characters in my village in Prayagraj. Playing Hanuman, allows me to relive my childhood. We eagerly wait for Navratris each year to get together, for we perform for the joy, not because we have any monetary aspirations.”
Women take centre stage
Breaking tradition, female characters such as Sita, Saroopnakha and Mandodari are being played by women. Khushi, who plays Saroopnakha, is a student of humanities at Guru Nanak Girls College. “As a first timer, I found this role very challenging. It requires a lot of energy and projecting strong emotions. I practised really hard to overcome my stage fright.”
Sunil, who is debuting as Neel, one of the builders of the Ram Setu, is a camera technician and Vijay, who plays the role of Vibhishan works in the marketing department of a Kerala-based company. “I have been performing this role since 2018. I work till 6 pm and wait the whole day to get on the stage.”
Parvinder Singh, who works as a medical representative with a pharmaceutical company, plays the role of Ravana.
Technology to the rescue
How do they manage to play these characters despite holding full-time jobs? Neeraj Kumar, Shri Pandey Ramlila Samiti, director, says, “As most of our actors hold full-time jobs, they lack the desired coordination and chemistry among them. Therefore, we decided to use the audio of Ramanand Sagar’s televised Ramayana. Our actors perform while the audio script is played in the background. Besides, the recording also makes it easier for the artistes to practice their roles whenever they want.”
“We use lights and fog to add visual elements on screen. The fog is used to show Lord Hanuman flying,” he adds.
Gender bending in Ramlila
Moving with the times, nowadays many Ramlilas are allowing women to play female characters in Ramlilas. However, many troupes still continue with the tradition of casting gender-bending men to bring the folklore to life.
Most theatre troupes that have travelled from Vrindavan and Amethi have all-male teams, while local natak mandalis have been more receptive to casting women.
Brijkala Adarsh Ram Krishna Leela Sansthan director Rajesh Sharma says, “Our troupe is from Vrindavan. As we travel throughout the country to perform Ramleelas and Rasleelas, we prefer to have an all-male cast and crew to offset any security issues. We do cast girls in our centre in Vrindavan.”
The troupe has been performing at Aggar Nagar for 20 years.
On the difficulties of casting men as women, Neeraj Kumar, director, Shri Pandey Ramlila Samiti, which is performing at Rajguru Nagar, says, “It makes the scene look artificial and hardly leaves an impression on the audience. The artistes, who dress as women apply a tonne of makeup to conceal themselves, which affects the expression of emotions.”
