A spirited production aims at bringing alive the rich heritage of courtesans

What ties together the journeys of Gauhar Jaan Begum Akhtar Jaddanbai and a thousand other tawaifs or courtesans Their soulstirring ghazals reverberating over the years from ancient gramophones to music apps And the fact remains that this tribe of women shaped performing arts in India daring to live life on their own terms Yet tawaifs have been stigmatised and driven to the margins of art culture and society For the past 12 years The Courtesan Project a concert series initiated by kathak exponent and choreographer Manjari Chaturvedi has been striving to erase this taboo by recreating the magic of tawaifs on stage and restoring their lost status as cultural changemakersThis week a production in the city titled Uff Malka Jaan amp The Velvet Courtesans will bring alive the rich heritage of these courtesans from the 18th to 20th centuries Led by Chaturvedi with storytelling by actor Neesha Singh and dastangoi by Nusrat Ansari the oneofakind show is presented by the Sufi Kathak Centre Royal Opera House Mumbai and Avid Learning Chaturvedi who has been rehearsing with Singh and Ansari in Delhi points out that there are a thousand ghazal singers in Mumbai Yet no one will give the tawaifs who popularised the genre their due credit ldquoSimilarly kathak performers donrsquot even acknowledge tawaifs as part of their history Every connotation associated with tawaifs in kathak has been consciously removed because they were ldquothreatening the societyrdquo And why Because they were earning their own money and had sexual freedomrdquo the dancer elaborates adding ldquoWe have distanced the tawaifs from their art and are now performing their creationsrdquoWith the 90minute performance Chaturvedi hopes to change the popular patriarchal and Bollywoodfed narrative of tawaifs as ldquobad womenrdquo Through music dance theatre and storytelling the trio will weave together stories of courtesans from Benares Lucknow Hyderabad Kolkata Delhi and Goa The narratives Chaturvedi shares have been painstakingly collected through years of research ldquoThe compositions featured in the show have either been sung by tawaifs or sisters and daughters of tawaifs who were part of Hindi cinema industryrdquo she addsNeesha Singh and Nusrat AnsariWhile Ansari will set the context for each story in Hindi and Urdu Chaturvedi will step in to recreate the songs of the tawaifs through dance and music Singh meanwhile will bring alive the tales in English blending theatre with storytelling Singh recalls that Chaturvedi a dear friend encouraged her to take to the stage to tell these unheard stories ldquoI will be playing the courtesans mdash Gauhar Jaan Chanda Bibi Zareena Begum Jaddanbai among others mdash and not just telling their storiesrdquo the veteran actor shares Ansari will introduce us to different types of tawaifs and what they were famous for ldquoIrsquoll be diving into the historical context of that period mdash when Awadh was becoming popular with nawabs like Wajid Ali Shah encouraging dance and music mdash and what has led us to see tawaifs in a completely different light todayrdquo the dastango revealsThe artistes hope to not just bring alive the glory of courtesans but rally for their recognition in the cultural landscape of India For far too long history has been written by men points out Chaturvedi ldquoWomen have never been given equal space Then tawaifs were branded as women who had to sleep with the nawabs to earn their place Now when women climb the corporate ladder people turn back and say lsquoOh we know how she got therersquo But thatrsquos not how we speak about menrdquo she explains urging viewers to come hear stories of these different women ldquoThe show will empower you to look at women differentlyrdquo she promisesOn November 4 7 pm to 830 pmAt Royal Opera House Mama Parmanand Marg GirgaumLog on to insiderinCost Rs 499 onwards