Thumri as a Nritya :
Nritta, Natya, and nritya are the
three nartan-bhedas or the three aspects of dance. Nritya is a later concept
which is the combination of Nritta, the body movements, and Natya the abhinaya
or drama.
Abhinaydarpan mentions that the Nritya
is mentioned to be Geetashraya that is ‘the one with a song as its frame’.
Thus, Nritya is the form where a Geeta or a song is interpreted through the
medium of body movements, body language, mudras, and abhinaya. Thumri performed
in Kathak can be considered as the perfect example of this Nritya.
Many other genres such as Dhrupad,
Ashtapadis and other Folk-music based genres such as Chaiti, Kajri, Hori were
explored and performed in Kathak through ages. However, from the last two
centuries Thumri has gained the escalating popularity and has become the the foundation of Abhinaya in Kathak.
Thumri as a genre:
Thumri is a genre that can be
categorized into the Kaishiki Vrutti or the romantic style as per Bharata’s
distinction.
Thumri is a vocal form considered as
a link between classical music and light music. Here, the vocalist sings in an
improvisational style, where much stress is on the emotive interpretation of
the words or lyrics of the bandish, and less stress on establishing the
raga. Thumri is the genre of song that is originated for dance or that is
originated as dance-song. The word Thumri itself has the action word ‘ठुमकना’ or walking gracefully in it. Projesh Banerjee has
given an interesting definition of the word Thumri.
ठु- ठुमकना- चाल, म – मन, रि-रिझाना Hence, Thumri is the artistic style
which has musical lines and dancing that will attract the mind and heart of the
listeners. Thumri generally depicts Shringara, both the shades Sanyog Shringar
(Romantic union) and Viyog Shringara (longings in separation). Generally
Deepchandi, Chanchar, Punjabi or similar taals are used, the quadrupled or
chaugun teental is also used in the climax part of thumri. This kind is sung in
raags like Des, Pilu, Kafi, Bhairavi etc. similar to Tappa.
Thumri – Origin
:
Thumri is
popularly assumed to be originated in the period of Nawab Vajid Ali Shah.
However, Thumri has much earlier origins. Thumri is said to be originated from
the Chhalik Sangeet, a similar light romantic style that was performed with
Abhinaya. The famous drama penned by Kalidasa ‘Malavikagnimitram’ shows the
heroine Malavika performing this Chhalika Sangeet, where her romantic
expressions enchant the hero. Even the ancient Charchari style which later
developed into the folk style Chanchar are also similar to the Thumri.
The word Thumri is
found much before Nawab Vajid Ali shah, in the manuals of Music and dance like Raag darpan and
Radha-Govind-geet-sar in the 17th Century. However, earlier
references of the word do not denote it as an independent type but there, the
Thumri is a type of Ragini. Thumri was performed as an independent genre in 18th
century itself in the reign of Nawab Asafuddaula. When the founder of Lucknow gharana
Baba Prakashi ji came to Lucknow in the later part of the 18th
century, the Kathak waves began to fill the air of Lucknow and Thumri had a
major role in this. In the beginning
period, however, it was a simple dance song lacking sophisticated rhythmic and
melodic improvisation. In
the later part of the 18th century, thumri began to be appreciated
as a fresh and exciting contrast to the pre-existing Dhrupad style. Soon, it
became a semi-classical form of the upper classes and every Mehfil of elites
was incomplete without the performance of Thumri.
Contribution of Nawab Vajid Ali Shah:
The reign of Nawab Vajid Ali Shah is
marked with the flourishing of many art forms, especially music and dance. In this
golden era for music, his patronage encouraged many artists and musicians. It
is in this period that the mere dance songs called Thumri used by courtesans
were given sophisticated form.
Vajid Ali Shah was himself a trained
vocalist and dancer. He was the disciple of Ustad Basit Khan for vocals and was a disciple of Thakur Prasad ji for Kathak. He was also a great wordsmith and has composed
many thumris with the pen-name Akhter-Piya. He composed and performed
dance-dramas like Indra-Sabha, in which he used Thumris as a part of the dance
drama. He also appointed Nritya-acharyas (Dance-mentors) to train the dancer in
his famous Parikhana. Nawab Vajid Ali Shah’s inclination towards Thumri not
only rejuvenated this genre into a sophisticated elite semi-classical form but
also filled the atmosphere of Lucknow with the elegance of Thumri.
Bindadin Maharaj and Thumri:
Thumri in Kathak is almost synonymous to Pandit
Bindadin Maharaj, such was his contribution as a writer, composer, and performer
of hundreds of thumris that are the prime element in the Abhinaya in Kathak
today. He composed the thumri songs
specifically with the purpose of presenting the abhinaya through Kathak. His
thumris have a fine blend of amour and devotion. Bindadin Maharaj himself was a
devotee of Krishna hence, his compositions are centered around various Krishna
Leelas and various shades of love between Radha and Krishna.
Thumri in Kathak : Thumri
encompasses a major Abhinaya presentation in Kathak. All the shades of Shringara are
portrayed delicately in various thumris, be it subtle and shy romance of
Mugdha, or mischievous love of Madhya or passionate amour of Pragalbha.
Ashta-nayikas come to life in the various thumris of Bindadin Maharaj. To name
a few, khandita in Kahe ko more ghar aaye ho, abhisarika in Sab ban than aayi
sham. Thumri is presented in its own unique style in Kathak, where a dancer
tries exploring layers of the meaning under every line and every word, at the
same time, paying attention to the rhythm. The Abhinaya in Thumri presentation
is seven-fold as follows:
1. Nayan Bhav-
The Abhinaya starts with subtle Nayan bhav where the dancer uses his eyes,
eyebrows to represent the meaning of the poetry. The dancer uses various
drushti bhed or glances and tries to incarnate the character and present the
emotion only through the eyes. The purpose of this subtle expression is to make
the spectator concentrate and immerse deeply in the song. For example, while
presenting the literal meaning of
बैठी सोचे ब्रिज बाम, सूना लागो मोरा धाम,
The dancer will
first express the heavyhearted condition of Nayika, only through sad-longing
eyes, he will look around at the sad-house and will suggest its emptiness to
express सूना लागो मोरा धाम
2. Bol bhav- The dance itself acts as an interpretation of the song or here of the Thumri. After
Nayan Bhav, dancer takes up every word of the composition and represents it
through mudras and body language.
 |
Lacchu Maharaj Bol-bhav expressing the word 'gari |
Here, the emphasis is on the Angik Abhinaya
and this is the test of the creativity of the dancer as to how many different
representations of the same word or line, he can show. This layer of Abhinaya explains the basic or the literal meaning of the bandish and makes a foundation for further deeper
meanings. However, the dancer through his gestures and mudras interprets more than
one meaning of the same line.
As in the given
thumri, the dancer will show the literal meaning of the phrase घिर आई बदरी by hand gestures suggesting clouds.
Additionally, he will also suggest the other बदरीs, the one in the eyes of Nayika and also the one in her heart. He may also
suggest some interesting meanings, by showing the smoke of Diya as बदरी.
3. Artha Bhav- At
this level, in order to into the deeper meaning, the dancer beyond being mere
narrator, personifies himself as the character. Here, he may not stick to
representing every word, but he will express the overall emotions of the
character. For example, for the line, kaun gali gayo shyam, the shabd bhav
would be showing kaun, then gali, gayo and shyam with mudras, whereas artha
bhav means showing the Gopi questing the Krishna longingly.
4. Sabha Bhav-
The Kathak
abhinaya has the intrinsic element of storytelling in it. After interpreting
every word for the viewers, sometimes the dancer directly communicates with the
audience asking them or pleading them, in order to make them a part of the
story. While searching for Krishna on the line Kaun gali gayo shyam, the dancer
may ask directly to the audience, have they seen Krishna and may request them
to search him.
5. Nritya Bhav –
After the dancer has opened up many layers of meaning and has taken along the audience
immersing in the rasa, the thumri catches the gripping speed and the dancer now
expresses the bliss beyond words through intrinsic footwork and elegant
gestures matching the speedy Laggi on table. Here the stress is on expressing
the rasa along with the drut laya- laggi, however, maintain the delicacy through
soft body movements, giving a climatic experience to the spectator.
6. Gat-artha-
bhav- While presenting the thumri, the dancer adds small episodes or supporting
stories. He presents them in the gat-bhav format, either on the avartans
between the two stanzas or he may also use the vistar of a particular line.
Vistar refers to developing a particular line by a number of variations and
alapi. This gat-bhav presentation on the sides of Thumri which enhances the
Rasa is called as gat-artha bhav. For instance, while showing सूना लागो मोरा धाम, the dancer may show the previous
romantic episodes of Nayika and Nayak through Gat-bhav and hence will underline
how the same place appears empty for her now without him.
