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When a cross-dressed Ayushmaan Khurrana gave his opening and climax shot in Dreamgirl, fans and critics couldn’t help but praise him. However, if we go back in history, the trend of men playing female roles for acts like Ramleela has been a constant, spilling over into contemporary times.
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While Ramleela performances were generally a male bastion, the number of women artistes is on the rise. Luv Kush Ramlila Committee (LKRC), among the biggest and most popular Ramleela organisers in Old Delhi, started putting up its shows in 1988. Arjun Kumar, who manages the committee, recalls: “Until 2013, we had only males playing the female roles in the Ramleela, be it Sita, Kaikeyi or Shurpanakha. The artistes came from Vrindavan and played these parts with a lot of ease. However, now we see more engagement from female artistes. The Ramleela has also become more commercialised now,” he adds.
While cross-dressing and transvestism may be considered a taboo in Indian society, these performers have always looked upon it as an art. In an age with endless possibilities of entertainment, Ramleela performances remain an integral part of this festive season. Right from the first day of Navratri, various cultural committees put up performances of the saga of Lord Ram and his victory over Ravana. However, while Ramcharit Manas was earlier performed through poetic dialogue, the script has now been diluted to make it more relatable. “The dialogues have to be effective to get the audience engrossed in the scene,” explains Yashwant Thakur, who has played only female characters all his life.
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“People would worship me when I first began playing Radharani‘s character,” he recalls. Localities in Vrindavan took these characters very seriously, making offerings and touching his feet, he claims. “I joined the rangmanch at the age of 16, because my family was going through a financial crisis and my mother was ill. Initially, it felt awkward to dress in a lehenga-choli and put on makeup, but it was the need of the hour. Soon, people started loving my act; they would invite me for Pujas and worship me, dressed as Radha. Later, I joined the Ramleela as Sita Mata,” he states, while talking to indianexpress.com. This year, he is playing Kaikeyi with the Bake Bihari Ramlila Mandal in Uttrakhand.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, Abhishek Shukla was fascinated with the Ramleela since he was in class 5 in his hometown of Jaunpur, UP. “People would touch my feet even when I wasn’t dressed in Sita Mata‘s yellow sari. They even called me by her name during regular outings. But, yes, I did get bullied and some boys made fun of my look. I almost quit out of anger, but my grandfather explained that if I didn’t play Sita, someone else would, but the respect I get would never come back.”
Just like in the movie Dreamgirl, these mythological characters are taken very seriously, particularly in rural India. Not surprisingly, the men cross-dressing for women’s roles do so with confidence, knowing well the audience regards rever them even after the curtains fall.
“If we get into the complexities of gender, then we artistes will lose the very essence of acting. I give my shot like for any character,” remarks Shukla.
Gender and its many nuances may be the subject of many conversations today, but these male artistes belong to simpler times, when acting was considered an act between action and cut, nothing beyond. Moreover, the audience too lost themselves in the dramatic storytelling of Ramleela, which aimed at bringing social awareness through the story of good versus evil.
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A resident of Old Delhi, Sudesh Chawla recalls watching Ramleela as a Navratri ritual on the grounds near Irwin Hospital (now become Lok Nayak Hospital). “We would be thrilled to see female goddess come to life on stage and they were only played by men. Gender was never a barrier. The tickets were 25 paise to 50 paise back in 1960, and during the nine days, there would also be social awareness acts, so people didn’t just receive entertainment, but were pushed to change their mindsets too.” The Ramleela tradition is definitely one that has stood the test of time.