Manjari Chaturvedi's dance recital called The Courtesan-An Enigma relived the era of darbari kathak. She speaks to Ila Sankrityayan about the social stigmas attached to courtesans that led to the destruction of this artform
Despite high aptitude, women artistes were toned down as mere nautch girls in the pages of performing arts' history, while their male counterparts continue to earn recognition as Ustads. Manjari through her heart-warming performance questions the stigma attached to it.
Recently the capital recalled the bygone era of kathak through Manjari’s performance. The Courtesan - An Enigma by Manjari at Stein Auditorium with graceful performance of darbari kathak wooed the audience. It was well complimented by the narration of anecdotes and stories by actress Neesha Singh. She mesmerised the audience with her stunning voice and her elegant style. She shed light upon pre-conceived notions about courtesans, often misconstrued, such as their sensibilities and disposition.
On the notes of Neesha Singh, Manjari performed darbari kathak' which is a more embellished form of Kathak.. Her expressive and graceful dance performance made the ancient texts alive on stage. The performance relive the music and dance of royal courts, the deep knowledge in poetry, dance and music, the exorbitant apparel of the courtesans studded with expensive gems.
This concert was conceptualized and created by Manjari. “This is an unusual subject, a subject that has always been brushed away as it has many social stigmas attached to it”, the danseuse said. This concert is part of a research project of Manjari, on the ‘The lost Songs of the Courtesans’. “Under this series we archive and document the artform. Our efforts are to remove the social stigmas associated with the courtesan, and give them due respect as artists par excellence”, she added. All this was done and talked about while the audiences were entertained by beautifully choreographed dance sequences, and stories told, which would prompt them to think why history shortchanged these women who were great performers.
The life and times of Gauhar Jaan, who was born of Armenian parents, Chanda Bibi, Rasoolan Bai, Jaddan Bai and Zarina Begum was retold by Neesha. And the poetry by Behzad lakhnavi, Wajid Ali Shah, Arzoo lakhnavi and others were also used in the performance. “Neesha is playing a part in my production as a story teller and encating the larger than life character of Gauhar jaan, the famous courtesan from Calcutta”, Manjari said.
“Courtesans were woman artistes, classically trained, who danced and sang with panache. The y were the style icons of their times and they even customised the clothes and the jewellery for them”, she said.
“They entertained at a time when there were no films, no television and no multimedia. These women, hence, had the same status of the film stars of the current time”, she asserted.
For Manjari among her various documentation projects, this project is most difficult. “This is an archival documentation project. At the same time a performing art should be shared with the audiences to keep it alive. Its difficult because it involves a social stigma of ‘fallen women' discarded by society , simply because of a mindset that hasn't been thought of, questioned, discussed, debated as an artform. Till date we do not have any videos of the mujra performances by the erstwhile courtesans, everything is available only as a bollywood version, or as hearsay, and we all know how far moved that would be from the original. More so because our image of a courtesan is largely that of what has been depicted in our films”, she said.
While talking about the era of darbari kathak and its negligence, she said, “The performing art of the courtesan, darbari kathak' is one that has been destroyed by public neglect. As a remnant from the British Raj, an anglicised class of Indians frowned upon the ways of these women whose art was dominated by the thought of shringar and romance”, she said.
Darbari Kathak has also been brought alive, by Manjari ‘s endeavour. “Darbari kathak relies heavily and vividly on the hands and the face for expression and also the dancer must be exquisitely costumed. The costumes have been designed with references from the erstwhile rare paintings and very few pictures available of the courtesans from the 18th-20th century,” said Manjari.
The repertoire used poetry of the 19th and 20th century poets keeping in tune with the era that was of the courtesns. “The compositions have been specially selected and arranged by me to represent the era. They are beautifully sung by Radhika Chopra”, the dancer said. The courtesan, the poetry, with the interlacing of Persian and Awadhi language influence that touched the soul, the music - ghazals, dadra and thumri gayaki, where each note resonated the singer’s emotions, never failed to captivate the audience.
On the scenario of darbari kathak, Manjari commented strongly that, “The current generations of the erstwhile male court dancers talk about the family lineage with a sense of pride extolling the greatness of their forefathers as dancers in the royal courts. At the same time the generations of the women court dancers live with a sense of shame never disclosing their lineage or any connection with the erstwhile courts. Somewhere the gender discrimination in the field of arts had existed and had never been addressed, consequently this sect of women were always ostracised from the society and considered lesser than their contemporary men. The disdain and apathy of a callous society had subjected them to a life of obscurity. Not having given them an opportunity to showcase their art, it had also dissuaded them to train their succeeding generations in these forms. As a result, these rare treasures, gradually lost forever. It is high time for us to question this. Today most people would invite a film actress to their forum with pride and at the same time an erstwhile courtesan will be considered inappropriate, why this inequality for performing artists”, she asked.