Bhagat the Baand

Bhagat the Baand

AWARDED


Kashmiri Traditional Performing Arts have witnessed a severe decline from the last couple of decades, but some artists like Ali Mohammad Bhagat have dedicated their entire lives to keep the tradition alive. 85 year old Ali Mohammad Bhagat has been nominated with 50 eminent artists of India for the prestigious Tagore Ratna Award for his services to the Folk Tradition of Bande Paether. Ali Mohammad Bhagat in an interview with GK Magazine’s Syed Aadil shares his experiences and achievements.

How long have you been in this profession?
This has been going on for centuries in our dynasty, both from paternal as well as maternal side. I started when I was 7.

You folk group
We have our own group called ‘Kashmir Bhagat Theatre’. It is quite famous in and outside Jammu and Kashmir.

Can you tell us something about the history of ‘Bande Paether’?
As I already said it has been going on since centuries. Earlier the ‘Baands’ (actors) used to perform mostly in Royal courts but later it became a regular activity. It was initially known as ‘Bande Jashn’ or ‘Bande Paether’. On the initiation of Moti Lal Khemu, the then official in Cultural Academy it was changed to ‘Theatre’ in 1961. Most of the Baand Theatres were of Pandits; Kashmir Bhagat Theatre was the first Muslim theatre.

What are the themes that a Bande Paether mostly highlights?
We mostly portray social evils like corruption, dowry as well as the wrong approach of both government and people over certain issues like environmental pollution, education and so on.

Bande paether is your ancestral profession, but who specifically trained you in this?
My father Gulam Mohammad Bhagat gave me an insight into this profession. He is the one who polished my skills. In folk drama Kamal Maskhar (the actor in a bande paether is called ‘Maskhar’) was my patron and it was Moti Lal Khemu who patronized me in Stage Drama.

You said your group was the first among muslims in theatre, it must have been difficult for you to compete with others at that time?
It surely was a challenging task and we were underestimated in competition with other theatre groups. But we emerged as winners four times in succession and I got the best actor award every time. I used to play the lead role.

Some achievements that brought you to limelight?
When theatre started in Kashmir, our group - Kashmir Bhagat Theatre - was in competition with other theatre groups of Kashmir and I got best actor award four times in succession for my roles in dramas ‘Hawas’, ‘Taqdeer’, ‘Yi Ti Chhu Banvun’ and ‘Soan Watan’. Later Cultural Academy awarded me for my role in the drama ‘Hawas’ in an exhibition. I got a shield/trophy from Kala Kendra in 1972 for my performances. And best of all, my name figured among famous personalities along with the likes of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Mirza Afzal Beigh, Bakhshi Gulam Mohammad and other Indian personalities in the book ‘Kashmir: Who is Who in ’72’ released by Radio Kashmir and Cultural Academy.

Some recent achievements?
I got two Best Actor certificates in Folk Festival at Tagore that was organized by Cultural Academy in collaboration with North Zone Cultural Centre in 2007-08 for the ‘Batteh Goor’ act in ‘Shikargah’ paether.

You have recently been nominated for Prestigious Tagore Academy Award; what does that mean to you?
It is like a dream come true for me. I have always been loyal to my profession and dedicated my entire life to it. I thought that all my hard work and dedication got me nothing more than some medals and certificates, but I was wrong. By this achievement I have reached the conclusion that if you are loyal to your skills and profession, it will be loyal to you as well and you will be rewarded in some way or the other.

Your theatre group is going to participate in International Folk Festival at New Delhi in January. How are the preparations going on for that?
The preparations are on and our group is going to perform ‘Badshah Paether’, a Kashmiri version of the drama ‘King Lear’ by Shakespeare that has been directed by M.K Raina and my elder son Bashir Ahmad has scripted that with M.K Raina. I might not go myself with the group because of health problems, that’s why I have trained my younger son Sajad Ahmad who will play the lead role of ‘Hakeem’ in the Paether.

You have performed outside J&K many times. How was the response of people there?
I don’t think there is a single State in India where I have not performed. I have done almost 5000 shows outside State and got a very positive response, even better than from our own people every time we performed. Though they do not understand our language but they are smart enough to get the meaning out of our expressions and acts.

Bande Paether has witnessed decline in in Kashmir. Your take on this?
It is true and the reason is that Westernization has crept into our culture. The television, radio and other such new forms of media have played a considerable role in its decline.

You can use these new media forms as a platform to develop theatre.
We did perform on Radio and TV in the beginning but now favouritism and corruption has crept in; and we prefer stage shows over that.

How do you think theatre can be revived in Kashmir?
It is not possible unless the government and people join hands for that. Government needs to develop folk institutions and we need a strong advocacy from public as well.

One final question; what is the essence of being a ‘Baand’?
A ‘Baand’ in my opinion is a representative of Kashmiriyat. We have always tried to preserve our culture and will continue to do so. If we look at the history, a ‘baand’ was the only independent person in Kashmir. We had free access to King’s courts and later to government offices and we got grains for the whole year from the government treasury. Plus a ‘baand’ was never taken to ‘begaar’ (forced labour) and for that we used to wear earrings and had longer hair as identification mark. Later the ‘Land to tiller’ changed the scenario and we became dependent on peasants and started to perform place to place to earn a living. The irony is that the new generation thinks of it as begging and our activities are restricted to stage shows in and outside state now.

[Greater Kashmir]