Why would women gyrate to Bollywood numbers in a sexually charged atmosphere, for an all-male audience at Asia's largest cattle fair in Sonepur, Bihar? Saba Dewan has the answer
Why would women gyrate to Bollywood numbers in a sexually charged atmosphere, for an all-male audience at Asia's largest cattle fair in Sonepur, Bihar? Saba Dewan has the answer
The Sonepur cattle fair in Bihar comes alive every evening when more than 50 girls take to the stage, dancing to the latest Bollywood numbers. A barbed wire fence separates the girls from an all-male audience. It is a performance charged with sexual energy.
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A still from Naach, a film set in one of Asia's largest cattle fairs |
The girls dance, make eye contact, gesticulate, even abuse a highly responsive audience. What meanings related to contemporary construction and practice of gender, sexuality, labour and popular culture can we read in the dance of these female performers?
Delhi-based filmmaker Saba Dewan answers. Her film Naach takes an intimate look at the lives of these women. "The girls don't see themselves as poor, pathetic victims. In fact, it's the women who wield a strong power over the spectators. The film explores this complicated relationship," said Dewan.
As the protagonist Sunita says, "This job is not humiliating as it gives me easy money. Each of us earns Rs 1,000 a day during the month-long fair. My mother Lata too was a dancer, but she doesn't dance anymore since we don't want her to." This cyclical family tradition was what caught Dewan's attention in 2004.
"I first came across the performers during my research on tawaifs in Bihar, for another film. I wanted to focus particularly on the dynamics of the familyu00a0- of an ageing dancer and her daughter who follows in her footsteps."
Naach was shot by her husband Rahul Roy over two years at one of the largest animal trade fairs in Asia. Sonepur is an important stop on the circuit for the dancers, some of whom come from as far as Delhi. The 84-minute film is the second in the independent filmmaker's trilogy focusing on stigmatised women performers.
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The first film, Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi, explored the lives of women bar dancers. The third and final film, The Other Song, traces a lost tune to stumble on the rich history of the courtesans of North India. "Each film is distinct, yet linked to the others through a shared subject," said Dewan.
Naach will be aired on Documentary 24X7 on NDTV 24X7 at 3 pm on October 10.
