![]() ![]() So, British Victorian morality and crude needs began to erode the status of the Tawa’if and by much of the 20th century, the tradition had vanished from respectable, mainstream society. ![]() The English needed entertainment and had these houses where no Indian was allowed and where these women would have to entertain soldiers.” “These educated women, who some would send their children to be educated by, were reduced to prostitution. “The presence of the British in the late 19th century culture had a real significance and impact,” explained Jasani. There was also another purpose which sadly led to Indian society shunning Tawa’ifs as well. The British found the women and some of the other performers (it was acceptable for some ‘men’ to be Tawa’ifs too, see here) as generally suspect and began to clamp down on those involved. While the music survived, the actual tradition of courtesans in India in the 19th century began to fall into disrepute. Jasani said he had noticed an appetite for both forms when he had produced music concerts over the years. The music of courtesans has survived in two particular singing styles, Thumri and Ghazals, said Jasani. The play will feature Kathak dancing and there will be an ensemble of musicians on the stage with a singer. “You have got this lovely blend of scripted English and the music and dance is all very traditional,” he added. “I’ve taken the traditional Urdu poetry of the 19th century and composed traditional music to it,” said Jasani, who as the man behind the AMC, has staged many concerts in the UK previously. The play has been put together by Simon Mundy, a poet who has instilled both his own and the verses of poets such as Rumi into the drama to give it authenticity and a traditional feel. I want the story and culture to be accessible to everybody that’s why it is in English,” pointed out Jasani. ![]() “It’s a theatre adaption of ‘Umrao Jaan’ written in English. He has assembled a cast of six musicians and 10 actors. It’s not an opera but a play with music.” Jasani told “ Nobody as far as I known has done something like this – where you put music on stage and it’s a musical (of sorts). ![]() It will form one part of a three-pronged project, entitled “ Lost Traditions” to bring the courtesan or Tawa’if as it was known more formally, back to life. He is passionate about wanting to resurrect the culture that supported the courtesan tradition and restore it to its former glories.įor just two nights in London (starting tomorrow on July 22) and an extended run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (from August 6-31), there will be a stage adaptation of “ Umrao Jaan” made up of music and dance. These initiatives are the brainchild of Viram Jasani, who will be known to many as the face behind the long-running Asian Music Circuit (AMC). It has been entitled, “ Umrao – The Noble Courtesan”Ī later exhibition will also give people the chance to hear recordings of actual courtesans dating back to 1902. Now, in what is believed to be the first time ever in the UK, the courtesan tradition is to be resurrected in the form of a theatrical production with music. Take the great 19th century Urdu novel “ Umrao Jaan”, and the literary works that inspired “ Pakeezah” (1972), “ Devdas” (2002) and the later screen version of “ Umrao Jaan” (2006) itself with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead….they were lavish productions that spoke of a different time and era. SEDUCTIVE, romantic, and tragic – that was the lot of the courtesan dancers who were venerated figures in much of Mughal India. In popular South Asian culture, the figure of the courtesan still persists but their long-held intellectual traditions and devotion to art have been much neglected. ![]()
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