It has been an uphill battle over decades for tamasha performers to win public respect and recognition of lavani as a folk art form rather than a low-brow, bawdy dance show. For the Kolhati community—which is among a handful of clans that have traditionally performed the dance form, particularly baithaki chi lavani (seated performance)—their art is all they have. As a nomadic community, they have neither homes nor land, and they travel all year from theatre to theatre across Maharashtra, performing for dwindling audiences and shrinking income. 

The crowds—and the money—are instead going to the new-age “DJ lavani” shows, where the performers’ nine-yard sarees are replaced by six-yard sarees, and the traditional melodies played on dholki, harmonium, tabla, and tuntuni (a single-string instrument) are replaced by a DJ set blaring Bollywood item numbers. While traditional lavani is known for its mildly erotic undertones, the DJ lavani shows have been accused of outright vulgarity, drawing large crowds comprising mostly men. Thanks to this, the real lavani performers are being robbed of not just their audiences, but also their hard-won respectability, says the Kolhati community.