Folk Music in Vijay Tendulkar's Ghasiram Kotwal

 

Sonal Mishra

 

Asst. Prof., SOS in Lit. & Languages, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur (C.G.) 492010

 

 

Vijay Tendulkr's 'Ghasiram Kotwal' (1972), a musical historical, set in the Maharashtra of the late eighteenth in century, is a land-mark in Indian drama. The play is a portrayal of overlapping orbits of power, struggle, lust, treachery, violence and immorality that characterizes the contemporary politics. The play is named after its central protagonist, Ghashiram, a simple Brahmin from Kanauj, who comes to Pune to try his luck. He is hurt, humiliated and victimised in Pune. To take revenge, he uses his daughter Gauri and secure the powerful position of kotwal. At the end, he is stoned to death by an irate mob. The play is a political satire, created as a musical drama. It combined traditional marathi folk forms with contemporary theatrical technique, creating a new paradigm of Indian theatre.

 

First performed on 16^th December 1972 at the Bharat Natya Mandir, Pune by Progressive Dramatic Association of Pune, the play came-up against resistance soon after it had turned into a stage success. After nineteen performances the play was banned for showing Nana Phadnavis, a cult hero, in an unsavoury light and also for defaming Pune Brahmins. Most of the actors resigned from the Association and formed Theatre Academy on 27^th March 1973. The Theatre Academy has performed the play in France, Germany, UK, the Netherlands and Italy. Thus the play had a paradoxical fate, on one hand there was the fierce opposition from the local marathi audience and on the other there was the international recognition which it received later.

 

The play can be perceived as an allegory of struggle between the individual and society, between power and exploitation. The content of the play is woven in songs and music. Vijay Tendulkar the play wright has described the play as a non-historical myth presented with dance and music. For this purpose, he has used a combination of a variety of ingredients from different folk forms of Maharashtra Kirtan, Abhanga, Tamasha, Lavani and Khele are used in particular. The folk forms helped in articulating and expressing the content of the drama. The play has shades of folk arts consequently folk music was used as a critical vehicle of the theme.

 

The play is dominated by Nana Phadnavis, Ghashiram and the chorus and Sutradhar with their implications of folk art. Ghashiram Kotwal is in complete if the text is divorced from the performance. The Theatre Academy production, that performed the play in India and abroad, used conventions from several folk theatre traditions like the Khela, the Dashavatar the Tamasha, the Gondhal, the Bharud, the Bahurupee and the Waghya Murli.

 

 

 

 

In a production note, the Theatre Academy says-

 

"The basic structure of the play is a human wall which is basically a singing and dancing chorus, impersonally commenting on the episodic developments. But it also breaks into smaller tableaux grouping and regrouping endlessly. The human wall ceases to exist when its back is turned to the audience. The Sutradhar or Narrator interposes in the proceedings to keep the audience abreast of things, the actors switching parts with perfect timing. A touch of opera with verse, music and prose fusing into one another in a strange, compelting alchemy. The ballet blending with the traditional folk dances, sets the mood and tempo of the decadent and bawdy era."¹

 

This human wall cum chorus formed by twelve Brahmins and the Sutradhar is in tradition with Marathi folk theatre. The basic theatrical device, the swaying human curtain has come from Khele, a folk form. Neela Bhalla says- "The play wright has evoked folk theatre of the Peshwa times to blend in with characters and setting, fusing elements of the Dashavatar Khele and the Tamasha. The Dashavatar is a flok dance drama performed in Konkan and Goa after harvesting."² In traditional Dashavatar form, the theme portrayed is the destruction of evil. The chief actor is Haridasa, always very colour fully dressed and behind him stood a chorus in a half circle. The Sutradhar introduces the drama. The accompanying musical instrument are the mridanga and the Jhanza. The Tamasha is comprised of a dancer, a comedian, a main actor and a chorus. The dancer performed the lavani, the comedian or the Songadya played with words and actions. In Ghashiram Kotwal also we get a glimpse of the humour of the songadya in the use of word with double entendre. For instance,

Sutradhar:    Wait now, wait now.

                       Hold your horses, must you go?

Brahmin:      Forces? whose forces foreign ? English.³

 

Ghashiram Kotwal is also structured in accordance with the five division of the Tamasha. The gan, an invocation of lord ganesha, praying for blessing and success which was also there in Ghashiram kotwal, the gaulan the dance of lord Krishna and the gopis, the lavani where the dancer dances on love songs, the vag which is the enactment of story of adventure in prose and verse and finally the mujra. In Ghashiram Kotwal Tendulkar used many of these elements. In tradition to Marathi folk drama, he also used his chorus to serve the purpose of refrain.

For instance.

 

Sutradhar:    Ghashiram become kotwal of Poona.

Others:          Kotwal of Poona.

Sutradhar:    His work goes on, his work goes on, his work goes on.

Others:          Goes on.

 

Sutradhar:           Gauri orders Nana does, Ghashiram's reign is here.

Other:            His reign is here.⁴

 

The most crucial moment of the play when Nana first meets Gauri , is also effectively portrayed with the help of folk songs. The place was atemple, the occassi'on was a puja but Nana was dominated by the feeling of lust. These two contradictory emotions are revealed by the transformation of Abhanga into Lavani and Vice versa. To quote-

 

"The Sutradhar as a Haridasa – a special kind of religions story teller – singer – sings an abhanga. Nana leers at the women. They are uneasy. Some adjust their saris. No noise now; just gestures. The abhanga changes to a lavani – a change from a religious story to a love ballad. The Haridasa sings a lavani. Suddenly an abhanga, Back to lavani. Nana in a lavani state of mind."⁵

 

Thus, we see that the folk forms have helped in articulating and expressing the content of the play. They also shows that the drama in the play and its meaning both can be effectively taken through music. Ghashiram Kotwal is important historically because it broke two moulds of Marathi theatre– the traditional Sangeet Natak mould and the modern realistic theatre mould arid demonstrated how folk theatre elements and folk music forms could be integrated to achieve contemporary significance.

 

References:

1.       Tendulkar, Vijay. Collected Plays in Translation. New Delhi : Oxford UP,                  2003, Pg. 589.

2.       Bhalla, Neela. "Ghashiram Kotwal : Text and Subtext", Madge V.M. (ed.) Vijay Tendulkar's Plays. New Delhi : 2007, Pg. 133.

3.       Tendulkar, Vijay. Collected Plays in Translation. New Delhi : Oxford UP,                  2003, Pg. 363-363.

4.       Ibid, Pg. 386.

5.       Ibid, Pg. 377