We have been frequently watching launda naach of Bhojpuri speaking region of Bihar on the Delhi stage to capacity hall. The vigorous dance movements by boys in female costumes to the accompaniment of earthy music have electrifying effect on the audience. The same theatre form in the Maithili speaking region of the State is known as netua naach which was presented by Cyclorama at Shri Ram Centre recently.
What makes the present production, “Netua” distinctly different from most of the productions is that it delves deep into the seamy side of the practitioners of this form and their exploitation by sexually degenerated feudal class. It shocks and provokes. The sequences of dance and songs are woven into the scenes of exploitation of Netua, his humiliation, his shattered family life and his intense hate for his craft. When we leave the auditorium, we forget about the dances and songs, what lingers in our mind is the image of an artist suffering in a social order dominated by old feudal order.
The play is written by Dilip Kr. Gupta based on the short story of the same title by Ratan Verma and on his well known novel titled “Netua Karam Bada Dukhdayi”. In fact, Verma has already written a play on Netua which was among the few selected plays at the competition organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad, Delhi. Dilip, who has also directed the play under review, preferred to have his own script to interpret the launda naach theatre form in a new perspective focusing on the life of the performer and indicating the trend of its commercial exploitation in cities.
The play opens with a beautiful boy in a girl’s costumes dancing vigorously with gestures and facial expression of eroticism. He is dancing to the tune of the remix of hits from film “Pakeezah”— “Inhi Logo Ne Le Liya Dupatta Mera”. The young dancer is in great demand and has become the heartthrob of those who love light entertainment laced with seductiveness. Ironically, the dancer boy is the son of Jhamna, the traditional launda dancer, who has now strong antipathy for his craft and becomes furious when he is told that his son Ram Pratap is in great demand as a boy dancer. Then the narrative unfolds in flashback.
Depriving of rights
Jhamna has lost his parents when he was a child. His maternal grandparents have looked after him with affection. His maternal grandfather was a popular netua performer who initiated Jhamna into this form. After mastering the art of launda naach, he came back to his village to manage the little piece of land of his father. Soon his fame as a Netua reached far and wide. Common people admired his art but the morally disgusting feudal lords are torturing him to become the object of their lust. They are determined to make him their sex slave.
Now it is time for Jhamna to marry. The landlords insist that he should defer his marriage date and devote himself in entertaining them. However, he resists and brings his bride home. Furious, the landlords use force to deprive him of his basic right to have privacy on his nuptial night. With their hangers-on, they invade his house. The scene brings to the fore the inhumanity and rapacious character of landowning class. They demand he should forget all about his bride and perform to entertain them. To punish for resisting, his tormentors, the landlords, conspire in connivance with local authorities to grab his small piece of land.
Rough edges
Actively involved in the amateur theatre movement in Delhi for the last 15 years, Dilip has completed his course in theatrical art from Himachal Sanskritik Shodh Evam Natya Akademi. His production has rough edges at places. His use of projection of slide to depict a sequence from a film in the scene where the landlord tries to seduce Jhamna is jarring and tedious. Without projecting huge image on the screen upstage, the scene between a defiant Jhamna and the degenerated landlord would have been more effective.
There are two characters from landowning class Narayan Misir and Vidhya Babu. The character of Vidhya Babu is flat. Rajesh Bakshi is a talented actor who is cast in this role of inconsequential dramatic value.
Sandy Singh's music score rendered by trained singers enriches the production, revealing the contradiction between the art of Netua and his personal life. Raunak Khan as Jhamna truly lives his character. His Jhamna is a dancer that casts spell on the audience. With intricacy, he shows the turbulence of the tormented soul of an artist who resists his exploiters. Ram Pratap as Raj Tanwas, the young dancer son of Jhamna exudes vivaciousness. Rubeena Saiphi as Sitiya, the bride of Jhamna, is innocent whose dream of a happy nuptial night is shattered and is terribly frightened to see the cruelty perpetrated by feudal lords on her husband. She creates a poignant image of her character that is heart-rending.
