BENGALURU: Anjineyulu, the director of a puppetry act from Andhra Pradesh, which was part of the Dhaatu International Puppet Festival, was given the President’s award two weeks ago for his contribution to the art. The six-member troupe performed the age-old Ramayana epic, Sundara Kanda, at the JSS auditorium on the concluding day of the festival.
For ten generations Anjineyulu’s family has specialised in shadow puppetry also known as Balaji Tolubommala. The hundred-member clan is based in the small towns of Dharamavaram, in Anantapur district.
His son Hanumanthu Rao was named after the mythological character. “I love handling the crazy movements, the fighting and complexities of Hanuman,” says the son.
After the curtains down, he did a demonstration. Programme director, Anupama Hoskere invited audience members to come forward and try playing the character.
Hanumanth tapped his foot on the ground to the music drummed out and sung by both his father and uncle Maruthi Rao. “The foot movements draw inspiration from Yakshagana. The specific foot movement is referred to as Sampoorna,” he says.
The Telugu musical focused on how Hanuman rescued Sita from the clutches of Ravana and returned her safely back to Lakshman. “Though we do few shows, I live for the applause,” said Hanumanth, who won the National Award in 2008. He also got the Ustad Bismillah Khan Award in 2010 for a intricate painting he did on the Mahabharatha.
Hanumantha never did think of developing other job skills, since he grew up around the practice of this puppetry. “It would start at 4 am every morning, when I was young. Puppetry liberated my mind. The atmosphere of my childhood was filled with artists sketching, colouring and shaping their dolls,” Hanumanth said.
But it is not a well-paying occupation. In the last year, the group has given just two performances, one with Dhaatu and another at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Each paid about `30,000.
So they have come up with alternative ways to earn an income. His cousin Bhaskar Rao had been making and selling lampshades in Delhi and Mumbai. They earn a minimum of `3 lakhs per annum from it. After 25 years of being away, Bhaskar complained to Hanumanth about his disconnect from their artistic inheritance.
Together, they launched the Bharath Leather Puppetry Artisan Mutally Aided Society with `5 lakh. A Hyderabad-based NGO supported them as well. “Most of the students are the children of siblings and cousins. I decided to do this to reestablish my connection,” said Bhaskar Rao.
The lack of education affects them as they find it difficult to communicate with officials. “Through the Sangeet Natak Akademi, which has a direct tie-up with the Ministry of Culture, we have written several letters but to no avail,” he said.