Does this appropriation of folk forms by the urban theatre imply any aesthetic risks or artistic compromises?
Well, after my Hayavadana, I found myself being invited to all sorts of seminars related to folk forms, and then I was offered Homi Bhabha Fellowship to work on the folk theatre of North Karnataka. It was all so educative for me and ultimately brought home the realisation that there was no difference between the folk and the classical drama: the aesthetic principles are the same. The basic thing, I discovered, is that the subject of any play has to be the human spirit. Using folk as a mere aesthetic device with no further exploration of what it is to be human does not attract me. It is not the question of garnishing the plays with music, colour and dance that is how some of our playwrights have tried to cover up their sloppiness. Of course, folk forms do have certain intrinsic advantages. The folklorist framework subverts classical notions about our holy cows; through tongue-in-the cheek irony, folk tales make fun of rulers, priests, even gods without offending even the puritans. Do yo
