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Nautanki is one of the most popular folk performance forms of South Asia, particularly in North India. Before the advent of Hindi cinema (the Hindi film industry), Nautanki was the biggest entertainment medium in the villages and towns of northern India. Nautanki's rich musical compositions and humorous, entertaining storylines hold a strong influence over rural people's imagination. Even after the spread of mass media (such as television, DVD, and Streaming media), a crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 can be seen at the top Nautanki performances. Nautanki's origins lie in the Saangit, Bhagat, and Swang musical theatre traditions of Northern India. One Saangit called Saangit Rani Nautanki Ka became so popular that the whole genre's name became Nautanki. Nautanki is most famous in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Bihar.
The pleasure of Nautanki lies in the intense mellifluous exchanges between two or three performers; a chorus is used sometimes.
Traditional Nautanki performances usually start late at night, often around 10 P.M., and go all night until sunrise the next morning (for a total of 8–10 hours). There is no intermission in Nautanki performances.
In the last four decades, Pandit Ramdayal Sharma (a renowned Nautanki maestro) and later Dr. Devendra Sharma have co-authored many new Nautankis. These new Nautankis are centered on contemporary social messages such as health, HIV/AIDS, women empowerment, dowry, immigration, and family planning. They are of a much shorter duration — around two hours. This is to give audiences an opportunity to watch performances during a break in their daily routine. These contemporary Nautankis have been performed extensively in India and America and met with resounding popularity.
Some popular traditional Nautankis are Syah-Posh (Pak Mohabbat), Sultana Daku, Indal Haran, Amar Singh Rathore, Bhakt Puranmal, and Harischandra-Taramati. Some popular contemporary ones are Mission Suhani, Subah ka Bhoola, Behkaani and Muskaani, and Beti ka Byah (all of these contemporary Nautankis are written by Pandit Ram Dayal Sharma).
One such Nautanki is Mission Suhani, an original Nautanki co-authored by Sharma and Pandit Ram Dayal Sharma that communicates a contemporary and controversial social issue concerning Indians and Indian immigrants in America. It critically examines the phenomenon of some Indian men who come to America to study or work but go back to India and get married — either because of parental pressure or to get a big dowry (cash given to the groom's family by the bride's side). Many of these men leave their wives in India and never bring them to America, where they often have another wife or a girlfriend. One of the unique aspects of this Nautanki is that it is bilingual (Hindi and English). This protects the traditional operatic and artistic elements of Nautanki while effectively communicating the story and contemporary social issue to a diverse audience. Nautankis such as Mission Suhani involving global social issues help to update Nautanki to emerging issues in India and around the world.
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