Bhand, Marasis from city to perform in UP

Tribune News service

Amritsar, March 11

After the successful show of Dastak’s home production featuring live concerts by the Bhand community of Punjab, the team is now working on expanding the audience base. The production titled “Punjab De Bhand- Marasi” was first staged at Meghdoot auditorium in New Delhi at the national theatre festival Natya Samagam.

The initiative to revive the folk artists’’ community is being supported by the Sangeet Natak Academy and the next live performance will be held at Desh Folk Theatre Festival, Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. The director of production and theatre person Rajender Singh, who has been working on the project for the past two years, will also plan a series of performances in Punjab.

“Our first performance in Delhi was quite appreciated by the audience and some didn’t even know that such an art existed. The group of 20 Bhands and Marasis that participated in the show have been part of the project and rehabilitated in the initial phase. This project aims to revive the medieval folk art form through live-audience interactions,” he said.

Making them more visible and pushing for their revival includes more such folk performances. Rajendra Singh had earlier invited Rana and group from Verka, once a popular Bhand group from the city, for workshops. The Sangeet Natak Academy had earlier released Rs 2 lakh for documentation and identification of the community of artists. Rajendra Singh has been working with 16 such groups of artists in the district and familiarising with the lifestyle and survival of these artists. “It’s become hard for them to compete with pop culture as most of them have a different lifestyle, still reminiscent of their past and are uneducated. The next generation does not want to take up this art as a family tradition and so they are gradually disappearing from the music scene,” he says.