Ram Lal Bhatt

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA will lead to the reimagination and revival of five puppet characters that are part of the string puppetry tradition of the Natt lineage of Rajasthan. Ram Lal Bhatt will be the Coordinator for this project. 

Ram Lal is a traditional Kathputli (string puppetry) artist based in Dehradun. Hailing from the Natt community of Rajasthan, Ram Lal’s ancestors served as Bhatts or master Kathputli artists in the courts of kings. From the stories of the valiant prince Amar Singh Rathore to those of Shaikh Salli, the wise elder, these stories represent life and culture in Rajasthan. The Natts also have a tradition of playing the Dhol and Bhankya, instruments that have been considered auspicious in Rajasthan. Given his experience of over five decades, Ram Lal is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA. 

Despite their artistic excellence and their contributions to the cultural ethos of the state, the Natt community has faced oppression and caste stigma for generations. Post independence, many from the community fled the villages to escape untouchability. Leading nomadic lives, the Natts travelled from village to village performing Kathputli for a livelihood. Ram Lal himself started performing when he was twelve. He was trained by his father in the art of performing as well as making of puppets. Even as young Ram Lal travelled with his performances, there was something about it that left him deeply unhappy. Finally, on realising that the social context in which he and his family had been performing was highly oppressive, in a fit of rage and helplessness, he destroyed every single puppet that his forefathers had created over generations. He then worked as manual labour and later with the Social Work and Research Centre (now Barefoot College) in Tilonia in Rajasthan where he created new puppets and stories to serve social and developmental themes. Over the past 30 years, he has worked with various civil society and non-profit organisations. In 2016, he joined the team at Ek Potli Ret Ki, an organisation that works in the area of cultural justice, diversity and inclusion. It is here that Ram Lal once again connected with his roots, his personal politics of performance and his artistic practice. 

As part of this project, Ram Lal will reimagine and reconstruct some puppets of Kathputli, bringing back a few of the form’s iconic characters and stories. The form has characters such as Sakhuri, the weaver; Gadh-Bhadh Khan, the jester; Munni Bai a.k.a Anarkali, the dancer; Rasdhari, the lantern bearing entertainer; Champa, the juggler; Malin, the gardner; Nase Baji and Ram Singh, the fencing duo and many others. Ram Lal will draw on these characters to recreate the puppet characters and their narratives in ways that will subvert feudal, patriarchal and other hegemonic systems, thereby enabling conversations around oppression and resistance. This artistic revival, Ram Lal hopes, will not only help destigmatise the form but will also empower other artists to embrace the form, their practice, their identities and their lived experiences. In this process, five puppets will be recreated and five new stories will be written.   

The process of creating the new puppets will be preceded by a research and preparatory phase where he will interact with peers and community elders to visually document the oral history of the string puppetry tradition of the Natt lineage as well as to understand the larger context of traditional string puppetry in India. As he embarks on this artistic process, Ram Lal will visually document his own personal journey through this project, exploring and reflecting on the emotional and creative aspects involved in the developing and reimagining the puppets and their stories. Alongside the five new puppets and their stories, additional puppet characters and new sets will also be created. The project will culminate in a live performance where the new puppets and their stories will be shared with audiences. Fifteen episodes with content around the new puppets and the process of their creation will be produced and uploaded as part of Ab Bolegi Kathputli, an ongoing online series on Ek Potli Ret Ki’s Youtube channel. 

The outcomes of the project as mentioned above are manifold. These will include the five newly created puppets and the accompanying stories, one live performance and 15 episodes of digital content that will be made available online. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be photographs and videos from the process and the live performance along with recordings of all the 15 episodes.

Over the last decade IFA has supported a good number of projects in puppetry that have significantly contributed to enhancing the scholarly, creative and pedagogic dimensions of puppet theatre across India. IFA believes that this project will further contribute to this corpus of material and knowledge on puppetry. Further, as an artistic endeavour undertaken by a practitioner, we hope that this project will encourage younger practitioners of traditional forms of puppetry to relook at their legacies, and renew and revitalise their conversations with the past, present and future.

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This project is made possible with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.