TAMASHA:FOLK FORM OF WESTERN INDIA

Influence

The folk theatre, Tamasha influenced a lot of creative works over the time. Main elements of Tamasha, like loud humour, suggestive lyrics and dance numbers, proved influencial in the development of the Bollywood films, which is based in Mumbai. Even today, the mainstream cinema or so-called masala films complete with their suggestive dance numbers, popularly known as item number, humour sequences remain largely entertainment oriented.

Picture coutesy: google

Over the years, some modern theatre practitioners have incorporated the traditional forms like Tamasha and Dashavatar into their plays. In the 1970s, during the rise of modern Marathi theatre, the Tamasha form was employed as narrative device and style in several notable plays like Gashiram Kotwal by Vijay Tendulkar, Vijaya Mehta’s Marathi adaptations of Bertolt Bretch’s The Good Woman of Setzuan as Devajine Karuna Keli(1972) and Caucasian Chalk Circle as Ajab Nyaya Vartulacha(1974), P.L.Deshpande’s Teen paishacha Tamasha (1978), an adaptation of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera.

Picture courtesy: google

The 1972 Marathi hit film, Pinjara directed by V.Shantaram, starring Shriram Lagoo and Sandhya in lead roles was set in the Tamasha musical theatre.

A 2006 multilingual documentary film, Silent Ghungroos, traces the origins of Tamasha in the Peshwa period to its contemporary form, where the form competes with modern entertainment mediums.