Mentor’s Comment:

Introduction should discuss about the puppetry and the reason behind its declining trend. The points like cinema, television, video, internet etc. takes the part of puppetry and at present are more entertaining.

Further in the main body, mention about the changes noticed in the revived puppetry art. Like changes in presentation, choosing the modern theme of play etc.

Next, mention about the international shows. Indian puppetry groups participated at Charleville in last year with Ishara’s melodramatic musical puppet on modern themes and stories. The modern puppetry has broken the border and has also been to western world.

Next, mention why puppetry is still important in India. Being closest to animation, live in the real world, pure and unbridled expressions, no limits of creativity and emotions. It has the potential to imbibe all art forms. The same has been used in India as an inexpensive medium to transmit knowledge about Indian myths and legends.

Next, bring conclusion based on the points of main body.

 

Model Answer:

• Puppetry throughout  the  ages  has  held  an  important  place  in  traditional    It is  an  ancient  art,  originated  about  3000  years  ago.  It has been most popular form of entertainment  for  the  village  people.
• But in recent  years,  the  puppeteers have  been  desperately trying  to  preserve  their dying  art form.  It has  been facing  stiff competition  from cinema,  television, video  and computers  and today  there  are  few  takers  for  live  puppet
• Also, there  is  little  money  in  working  with  puppets  and  many  artists  are  choosing  to  leave the  profession  as  they  find  it  difficult  to  make  ends

Changes noticed in the revived puppetry art:

• Over the  years,  the  shadow  puppeteers,  who  traditionally  used  stories  from  the  Ramayana and  the  Mahabharata,  adapted  themselves to  present  contemporary  personalities  of historical  merit, such  as  Kittur  Rani  Chennamma,  Tipu  Sultan,  and  Mahatma
• Combines the  essences  of  both  the  traditional  puppetry of Indian subcontinent and  the  leading  contemporary puppetry  of  the
• For example,  Katputhli  in  Rajasthan  got  integrated  with  western
• It also  adopted  the  black-theatre  techniques  in  producing  a  few  puppet

International shows:

– Two  puppetry  groups  from  India  are  set  to  perform  at  Charleville  in  September,  along with  Ishara’s  melodramatic  musical  puppet  show  Heer  Ke  Waris,  which  is  based  on  the Heer-Ranjha  folklore.

• The puppetry  is  pushing  the  boundaries  by  using  life-sized  puppets  without    The puppeteer is on stage as well.
• Contemporary puppeteers  also  observed  the  art  in  the  West  and  adapted  it  to  an  Indian context.
• Puppetry is  expanding  its  horizons,  and  an  offshoot  is  the  edgier  object    Object theatre  came  into  being  as  the  definition  of  puppetry  began  changing.  The  story  is  told through  objects,  but  we  don’t  bring  them  to  life

Why, puppetry is still important in India:

• Puppetry is  the  closest  thing  one  can  get  to  animation,  live,  in  the  real
• Puppetry is  a  pure  and  unbridled  expression  of  imagination,  live  and  often
• It has  no  limits  and  is  as  broad  an  art  form  as  the  creative  capacity  of  the  puppeteer  and storyteller.
• Puppetry imbibes elements of all art forms such as literature, sculpture, music, dance, drama and enables students to develop their creative abilities.
• Puppetry has  been  used  traditionally  in  India  as  a  popular  and  an  inexpensive  medium  to transmit  knowledge  about  Indian  myths  and