About the Book

Nautcha  is a theatre of  village communities. It is a theatre of humorous, many facets of village life , women’s life in the family etc. are portrayed before the audience with music, sound and light. It is said that Nautcha or Nacha of Chhattisgarh evolved from Marathi Gammat which was introduced here with Maratha regiments but both are developed independently in different cultural set up. The Nautcha originated from the poor and simple rural folk and it got patronage only from the poor peasants of Chhattisgarh. This theatre form became a great source of entertainment among rural areas. This theatre is a secular one and its themes are generally humorous and satirical, which in long run has a deep penetration in their value system. One can easily reach the root of the rural life in Chhattisgarh through the folk theatre which is otherwise termed as a ‘mirror’ of village life. Since this folk theatre forms receives patronages chiefly from rural people for their entertainment, their arises a social cleavages from the elite classes of Chhattisgarh. But the attitude towards these native folk forms of theatre started changing due to involvement of some famous writer like Habib Tanvir. With the freedom movement several scholars, theatre personalities and playwright were attracted towards this folk theatre form. The   present treatise is an account of those entire where historical background, development and change have been dealt in crisp. The scholars of Art and Culture will get a ready-made account of genesis of folk theatre form and its progress with patronages.