CHENNAI: Bhalu the bear comes to Hyderabad, makes friends with some children and also captures the attention of the villain Madari, an animal catcher who decides to use Bhalu for his dirty work. This story is narrated by Qawwali singers which can be you. Confused? The Qawwali singers are puppets that you can make at the upcoming workshop in the city.
Ratnamala Nori, founder, Nori Arts and Puppetry Centre, will be teaching you to make a rod, hand and mouth puppet today. “We are basically looking to give audiences a quick glance into the world of puppetry. We will teach them how to make a puppet and also manipulate and give life to it in contemporary style. Those days, a family would work on a particular format and follow a certain procedure and have a religious theme to any puppet show. Contemporary puppetry is different than a traditional Katputli in Rajasthan, Kalasutri Bahulya in Madhya Pradesh, or Tholu bommalaata in Andhra Pradesh.”
Giving an example of shadow puppetry she explains, “Traditional puppeteers may use the skin of a deer but we use X-ray skeet, a black paper or any translucent card paper. We explore different themes and also use technology in the process.”
She has never watched a traditional show but just a vague memory of a traditional leather puppet show. It’s always been contemporary styles and she loves Muppets too. Remember Jim Henson’s Muppet Show?
Ratnamala registered her centre in 1994 after she was mesmerized by a puppet festival she watched. “Twenty years ago, Bal Bhavan wanted to organise a puppet festival. I decided to help out though I hardly knew anything about puppets. My puppet was minimalist but the acts I saw from people who came from other cities was enthralling. I knew I had to keep going,” she recalls enthusiastically.
Being an art teacher in a school, she began bringing puppets to classrooms, got other teachers to use it as a medium to teach and her entire family helped her out. No wonder she used her family name as the name of her centre. “From rod, gloves and mouth, I moved on to shadow and strings. I’m looking to explore with more materials like jute and wool to give my puppets an artistic finish. For my themes, I’m planning to work on author Sudha Murthy.”
Voice is important to bring the puppet alive, but non-verbal puppets make quite an impression too! “It looks like a cartoon. All you need is the right music and the perfect movement co-ordination. I love combining both verbal and non-verbal styles; it makes it better. There’s always room for improvement and I want to keep doing that,” she smiles.