Some of the big names of Lavani—Shakuntalabai Nagarkar, Pushpa Satarkar, Gauri Jadhav, and Latabai Walikar— took centerstage at The Box theatre in Pune Friday to take audiences on a nuanced journey through the complex layers of the art form that has, in recent years, become the subject of controversy for its sensuous performances.
The play, Lavani ke Rang, had premiered in Mumbai in November 2022 as part of the Prithvi Theatre Festival but the Pune show gained extra significance as it took place a few days after NCP leader Ajit Pawar had issued instructions that the party will not conduct erotic public performances under the pretext of the dance form. His order came after a Lavani performer, Megha Ghadge, had objected to the dilution of the folk art form by performers who used DJs and obscene gestures.
Incidentally, Bhushan Korgaonkar, the play’s director who has also written a book, Sangeet Bari, on the folk form of Maharashtra, used to think of Lavani as cheap and vulgar until he watched a live performance 20 years ago that changed his perspective. The play is the result of his long research into the lives of Lavani artists and his travels to places such as Solapur, Ahmadnagar, Satara, and Pune.
“There are three main spaces in Lavani, such as Sangeet Bari, Dholki Phadacha, and Tamasha. The last two incorporate elements of other entertainment forms such as skits, and shows happen in auditoriums like Bal Gandharva. They are popular among the general public but the Sangeet Bari is not so known. Sangeet Bari is made up of songs, dances, and music, and is performed in private baithaks as well as on public stage and was a favourite of the Peshwas. There are also too many misconceptions and taboos about Sangeet Bari, which has pushed the form to the fringe,” says Korgaonkar.
Lavani ke Rang is designed as a bridge between the Sangeet Bari tradition and mainstream audiences that have little or no exposure to the traditional Lavani.
One of the first reveals about the form comes early in the play. Geetanjali Kulkarani, who plays a fictional theatre owner Kaminibai Jamkhedkar, says, “Hamara pura samaj streepradhan hai. Hum pura ghar khud sambhalte hai. Hamare bachhon ko bhi hum hamara naam lagate hain (We are a matriarchal society. We run our homes ourselves and give our children our names).”
She also informs the audiences that, traditionally, Lavani shows have been held in dedicated theatres which do not stage other plays, dance or music performances like normal auditoriums. The performances are attended by a cross-section of people, from “vegetable vendors, farmers and builders to doctors, engineers and politicians”.
Lavani is also known by the region in which it is performed, such as Baleghati Lavani and Khandeshi Lavani, and a song can be performed in different ways in different regions. There are references to the entry of men who want to explore their feminine selves on the Lavani stage.
Kulkarani’s narration alternates with performances that not only demonstrate an aspect of the form but also serve to break the information into nuggets. The play, thus, ensures that the audience is entertained and the hall is filled with song and the sound of ghungroos. One of the moving pieces was a rendition of the ghazal Dil cheez kya hai, aap meri jaan lijiye to demonstrate how Lavani accepts songs from other genres but presents them in their own style.
“To present the long history of Lavani, I fell back on the regular theatrical style and presented facts in a nutshell so as not to overwhelm the audience with details,” says Korgaonkar.
The final piece in Lavani ke Rang is a celebratory dance of a woman whose husband has quit drinking, and drew a large number of audience members young and old, to the stage to dance. The play ends with an energised crowd dancing, cheering and clapping — a demonstration of the power of the performances.
“Lavani is love, and love is Lavani,” said Nagarkar and everybody in the hall agreed.
