more-in Gammat Nacha is one of those art forms that announces its intent proudly in its name. Kashi Ram Sahu, an exponent of the traditional folk theatre form from Chhattisgarh, has an infectious laughter as he explains the name. “Separate the first word and you get ‘gam’ and ‘mat,’ which can then be read as a request to not be sad. It is a call to be happy, to celebrate,” says Sahu. He is here with his group called ‘Kashiram Sahu Nacha Party,’ to perform at the 8th Theatre Olympics organised by the National School of Drama under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture. He is not sure about how or where the art form originated. But, the 69-year-old has spent almost all his life, performing various roles. “I was introduced to the art form by my elder brother Ramjhal Sahu. I began performing as a dancer. I have performed all kinds of roles, both male and female. As age began catching up, I shifted to harmonium and singing. In the earlier days, the whole team was made up of my family members. My father used to sing bhajans,” says Sahu. Pointing at the lights of myriad hues on top of the stage at Tagore Theatre, he says the ambience is quite different from that which they used to perform. “In the earlier days, these lights were not there. It happened under the open sky, through the night. We usually used to perform it during Ganesh Utsav, with bhajans of Kabirdas, Meerabhai, Tulsidas and others. We draw a lot from the epics, weave in some contemporary issues and try to present a message too,” he says. Over the years, with the need to attract more audience, they weaved in qawalis, ghazals and even film songs into the narrative, which are usually rendered by the actors and not the musicians. On Friday, the group performed a Gammat Nacha called Pathauni, a story set around the practice of child marriage that used to exist in those parts.

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