Abstract:

"Ajuba Dance and Drama Co. introduces a troupe of popular entertainers in North India. Performing in private compounds, factory yards, and mango groves, they stage a type of theater known as Nautanki, an amalgam of music, dance, comedy routines, and drama. Nautanki draws as easily from the arts of the royal courts as it does from the latest Bombay feature films. The film allows viewers to see the performers in their everyday lives, meet Bhaggal, the director, travel with his Ajuba troupe, watch them rehearse their lines and put on their make-up, and finally, under the stars, witness a Nautanki performance itself, with dance, song, color and romance."