Stage Songs Making a Comeback in India Theatre

The tradition of participants singing theatre songs is now making a comeback because of new experiments in Gujarati theatre and thanks to actor/director Raju Barot, who has been running 'Tarz-e-Theatre' since 1998.

Barot says, "Roots of old theatre in Gujarat can be found in performance forms such as Bhavai where songs were an integral part. The old plays continued the tradition and at one point of time there used to be as many as 25 songs in some of the productions."

"But later, the form underwent much change and there were no actors who could sing as well," says Barot.

Actor/director Nisarg Trivedi, says it is because of directors such as Bharat Dave, Nimesh Desai, Mayank Oza and Madhu Patel who made the songs an integral part of storytelling. He says, "The late Chinu Modi was also a well-known exponent of the form and had a number of memorable plays with songs."

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