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Retooling a tradition : a Rajasthani puppet takes umbrage at his stringholders / by Nazir Jairazbhoy and Amy Catlin.
- Format:
- Video
- Series:
- Academic Video Online
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Kaṭhputlī (Puppetry).
- Puppet theater--India.
- Puppet theater.
- Marionettes--India.
- Marionettes.
- India.
- Genre:
- Documentary-style films.
- Ethnographic films.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (49 minutes)
- Place of Publication:
- Van Nuys, CA : Apsara Media for Intercultural Education, 1994.
- Language Note:
- In English.
- System Details:
- data file
- Summary:
- A 47-minute "fictive" video documentary by Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy and Amy Catlin. This video concrète (cf. musique concrète) constructed from numerous film and video clips recorded in India from 1978 to 1994, communicates aspects of Rajasthani kathputli puppetry viewed from the idiosynchratic perspective of the videomakers. It presents three imagined contexts. The first is of a Muslim nawab puppet who is convinced that his Hindu puppeteers are prejudiced against him on religious grounds. The second introduces his concubine-courtesan, a semi-historical personage from the 17th century, Anarkali, who, after centuries of patience and endurance, finally feels obliged to accuse the nawab of bigotry, and urges him to look at the positive elements of the puppeteers' adaptive strategies for survival in the new world. The nawab tries to follow his consort's advice but cannot refrain from nattering sarcastically to make the puppeteers look their worst. Finally, an imaginary spokesman of an equally imaginary puppeteers' guild presents a gilded, altruistic view of the modern puppetry adaptations. The nawab is convinced - or is he? In the course of this videotape the viewer is introduced to the colorful variety and creativity of Rajasthani puppetry and its music.
- Notes:
- Title from resource description page (viewed May 25, 2017).
- OCLC:
- 989799216
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