The puppet master’s story

Dadi Pudumjee. Pic Courtesy/Anay Maan

Like all good things, modern puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee's first brush with the art form happened in his childhood, spent in Pune. "I must have been six or seven years old, and I had got two toy string puppets, which came from the United Kingdom," he recalls. Manneys, a famous bookstore in his hometown, stocked books on theatre and puppetry that kept his fascination alive during the school years. It was only in 1971, when he went to NID, Ahmedabad, and the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts that the world of puppetry opened up for him, he adds. There's been no looking back since then. And this Wednesday, in an online session titled Behind The Strings: A Indian Puppeteer's Journey, Pudumjee will look back on his decades-long career, giving viewers a front-seat view of what it takes to make a career out of this art form.

The virtual event is organised by The Museum Society of Mumbai and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), and will be moderated by radio professional Fali R Singara. During the talk, Pudumjee shares that he will also touch upon his various gigs across the world - from his days spent working with ISRO, studying in Stockholm and a stint in Mumbai with GD Somani School, to starting the first Indian modern puppet theatre repertory company for the Shri Ram Centre for Art and Culture in Delhi, and later founding The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. "Ishara was founded with the idea to explore the synergy between puppets, masks, actors, music and more," he adds. For a long time, puppetry in India was associated with only traditional communities and families. "With Ishara, established in 1986, I think we have been able to break that boundary. Over 100 countries have participated at The Ishara International Puppet Theatre Festival, highlighting different types of puppetry traditions," he reveals.

The first non-European president of the International Puppetry Association UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette) - now, president UNIMA emeritus - will also delve into how other forms of art use puppetry. "I worked with filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj for the song Bismil in Haider, and then for the opera A Flowering Tree. Ages ago, when Pepsi first came to India, we did the first Mirinda orange advertisement with muppets, along with Sumantra Ghoshal," he illustrates, adding that he also hopes to shed light on the future of puppetry, especially in a post-pandemic world, during
the session.

On: November 10, 5.30 pm
Log on to: @museumsocietyofmumbai on Instagram to register