The entry of a flamboyant camel asking its king to ride on its back makes the young and old in audience give in to the charm of believing that the animal is real!
Clapping in tandem with the background score of Dhola baitho maari peeth pe main tadpad tadpad chaalun, one wants to believe that the sight is real. Or atleast it becomes one when an inanimate creature comes alive in the hands of puppeteer-director Puran Bhat who recently narrated the popular Rajasthani folk tale of Dhola-Maaru at the ongoing 11th Ishara International Puppet Festival.
The world of kathputlis turns real, even as Puran makes puppeteers a part of the narrative. Instead of performing the story behind curtains, the masters became one with puppets as they pull the strings and move them on stage, without hiding.
A simple yet skilled art of puppetry came alive with various devices being infused into the narrative. Those accompanying their young ones and some enthusiasts who had turned up for a Russian puppet show, were in for a surprise when they read the handouts and realised the last minute change. What surprised them was the creativity of the director who was not just adept in handling the puppets with finesse but also ensured that there were enough surprises to astonish the audience and keep them glued to the show!
Though the story kept the original content intact and recounted the tale of prince of Narvar Dhola, who sets on a voyage to conquer new lands, promising to return to his beloved wife Maaru soon but along the way comes under the spell of an evil witch. The tale is high on drama as Dhola needs to fight monsters, and defeat the witch in order to save his wife, and be with her happily ever after.
The director, who skillfully makes the marionettes breathe, introduces the spice in this ordinary tale. When the puppet of a female court dancer in flashy clothes swings its thin waist while holding its skirt to form a semi-circle and turns into a male dancer; and the witch changes her form from ugly to pretty and vice-versa, the technique of handling dual puppets at one time, impressed everyone.
How does Puran do it? “It’s all in the hands!” he replies breezily. As he breaks the traditional trend of presenting string puppets in slow motion, Puran add the sound of boli (whistle) to local folk music, making the performance palpable. “My aim is to keep the traditional alive with a modern touch because audiences get bored viewing the same thing, time and again.”
However, during the 50-minute performance, nobody was bored except one odd tiny toddler who started wailing at the site of puppets and continued to dislike all of them, throughout!