Bhavai on Bhavai

Abstract

The starting point for this project was the premise that folk arts are perishing and they need to be preserved. However while reading some of the leading researchers’ works, it was realized that there were counter views also. In the present days of modernization and globalization (where physical boundaries are diminishing at a faster pace), no tradition can remain in isolation preserving its purest form for a sufficiently long time. Changes as per the forces from within the society are inevitable. I took an example of one such folk tradition, called Bhavai, studied it from a researcher’s point of view and finally realized that though its original form and intent are more or less lost, some of its elements have survived. To communicate this idea, I chose the medium of film. The film called Bhavai on Bhavai poses the question, whether tradition is eventually lost or it transforms itself into other forms. It does not give a clear-cut answer to the main question, but finally leaves it to the viewers to judge it for themselves.