For the digital generation that grew up on devices that made entertainment available at the click of a button, traditional art forms, such as puppetry, are not only a source of fascination but also one of the ways to understand India’s vast folk history. Keli, a city-based organisation will bring together the regional puppetry culture of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in two vibrant performances at a venue in Nerul. “While people might think that puppetry is outdated, it is an extremely dynamic art form which can actually mould itself to suit the era’s narrative. The amount of technical knowledge that is required to craft something on a plain white cloth screen, which gives one a 3D feel of the story without using technology as such, is actually a pretty genius thing in itself,” Ramachandran Keli, director of the organisation, opines.

A set of puppets depicting Ganesha alongside Riddhi and Siddhi