Pulling strings

Veteran puppetry artiste Meena Naik uses her figures to create an awareness about social issues, AIDS and learning disabilities, reports Sujata Chakrabarti

Puppetry from Rajasthan — perhaps one of the most ancient Indian art forms that seem to feature pretty high on a traveller’s itinerary — is unfortunately almost a dying form of art, if not for newer avenues of applications, according to one of the pioneers of puppetry on the stage in urban India, Meena Naik. With many improvisations, she has managed to unhook puppets from the average living room wall and got them to dance on a plethora of stages to highlight various issues that plague the society today.

Though much recently, puppets have made their way into mainstream Bollywood cinema, when she started out 35 years ago, there was no academy in the country that taught the art form of puppetry. Meena says, “In the field of children’s entertainment, there were films and stage shows but no puppets. While I was already into designing costumes and making masks for the stage, I started making puppets.”

Though the initial years went by in a series of trial and error, with active support from acclaimed theatre personalities like the late Vijay Tendulkar, she went to Japan to master the finer points of this art. She recounts her foray into television with her two puppets, Gittu and Maharaj who became household names with the popular children’s TV programme, Khel Khilone, and says, “Puppets on the western stage were quite popular, especially in programmes made by BBC. Using the traditional puppet forms but armed with a new set of theatre techniques, I set forward to using this art form for educational therapy.”

Her children’s theatre productions are continuously exploring new subjects that range from sexual abuse among children to AIDS problems in the youth. Meena, also an avid social worker, has also used puppetry for her work towards sex workers and children with special needs, having represented India in several related international forums.
Explaining her personal touches to this traditional art form, she says, “Instead of just using puppets, I have often portrayed them along with live actors so that the audience can relate to the subject better. I have also improvised on the traditional materials used to make puppets, often using cane and bamboo baskets.”

The art of puppetry, Meena agrees, has dissipated across the ages. She says, “The nomadic tribes who had originally kept this art alive are now reduced to doing gigs in the lobbies of five-star hotels selling a few pieces to the foreigners.” Meena also feels that cinema is a medium that is capable of reviving several dying indigenous art forms. Talking about her latest contribution to the big screen, she says, “In a film like Drona, we have brought puppetry alive amongst a sci-fi setting.”

Puppets are something that have fascinated a lot of Bollywood stars, says Meena. She recounts, “I had used puppets for a music video for Rakeysh Mehra that starred Amitabh Bachchan. Rakeysh was absolutely thrilled with the fact that traditional puppets were stylised to suit the video.”
c_sujata@dnainida.net