In Hyderabad, they’re laid to rest alongside the tombs of royal kings. They were among the highest tax payers during the British Raj and the first women performers in Hindi cinema. “Yet, in most drawing room discussions, the mention of a courtesan or tawaif is followed by a snigger,” rues the Delhi-based Sufi Kathak exponent Manjari Chaturvedi, who has made it her mission to research, document and celebrate the rich performance art of tawaifs, baijis or courtesans that has been marginalised by history.
Place in cultural history
This Saturday, Chaturvedi comes to Mumbai with Tehzeeb-e-Tawaif: Courtesan Culture and Women Performers in India (18th-20th Century), a one-day symposium presented by her non-profit registered society Sufi Kathak Foundation along with The Royal Opera House, Mumbai and Avid Learning. “My efforts are to question and remove the social stigmas associated with the tawaifs and give them their respectful place as artistes par excellence,” says the danseuse, with a career spanning over two decades. She began researching on the lives of courtesans over seven years ago.
Through panel discussions, film screening and performance, the event will highlight the contributions of the courtesans to India’s performing arts – whether it’s their poetry woven with Persian and Awadhi languages, their influence on musical traditions such as ghazal, dadra, thumri and gayaki and their impact on expressive dance disciplines. “For instance, a diktat in north India stated that courtesans shouldn’t stand and dance. So, they performed while being seated, only using mime as form of expression. That is incredible choreography and much ahead of their times,” says Chaturvedi.
Beyond the surface
The panelists include experts from the fields of music, cinema and academia. Singer-composer Shubha Mudgal will be part of a discussion on the performance art of tawaifs and baijis. Lata Singh, an associate professor in the Centre for Women’s Studies at JNU, and Veena Oldenburg, a history professor at the City University of New York, will delve into the topic of ‘women performers and male gaze’.
Music and cinema scholar Yatindra Mishra will talk about the tawaif as a muse in cinema. “Bollywood’s portrayal has been through the patriarchal lens. They’ve been shown as helpless women seeking redemption through marriage. On contrary, these were well-earning, independent women,” says Chaturvedi, adding, “I don’t blame Bollywood because cinema is about storytelling. Unfortunately, it has become the benchmark of documentation.”
Archivist-historian AN Sharma and author Veejay Sai will trace the journey of courtesans from being live performers to recording artistes in conversation with music scholar Kushal Gopalka. Meanwhile, Sanghamitra Sarker’s documentary titled Anwesha will explore the performance traditions of Kolkata. The evening will witness Chaturvedi’s theatrical dance performance that’s an ode to forgotten women performers such as Jahanara Kajjan, Mukhtar Begum, Jaddan Bai, and Begum Akhtar. “They were the first-ever film stars in early Hindi cinema and I’ll retell their stories,” she says while signing off.
Tehzeeb-e-Tawaif symposium will be held on April 27 from 11 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. followed by Manjari Chaturvedi’s performance at 6.30 p.m. at The Royal Opera House, Girgaum; more details on insider.in.