Single actor play enacts life of folk dancer

"Maut? Wo kya hai? Main uske bas mein nahi aati, main naachti hun," (Death? What is it? I am not subdued by it. I perform).
Yesteryear folk dancer Kisuki Bai is brought alive on stage by dancer-actor Sindhu Mishra who enacts the struggles of the artist, who is caught up within a technologically advanced world, where court dancers have fallen out of favour.
The one-actor play "Naachini" based on the life of Kisuki Bai and directed by playwright Bhanu Bharti, noted for "Andha Yug and Tughlaq" productions, was firt staged 11 years ago.
Set in mid 1930s, the monologue revolves around'naachni' Kisuki whose grasp of her art propels her to the stature of an ace performer at a time when the feudal society is shambles.

Devoid of patronage and confronted with the advent of technological innovations like the bioscope, the dancer is left to struggle for a livelihood.
The plot is episodic and does'nt proceed chronologically.

"At one moment she is a teenager, a daughter, a dancer. But she is the one, the only one. She is the master," says Sindhu Mishra, deputy secretary of the Sahitya Kala Parishad.
Sindhu, an ace Bharatnatyam dancer essays many roles -a daughter, a mother and a grandmother- says she is performing 'Naachni' after five years which has brought her international acclaim.
"Bioscope and records work as metaphors in the play to suggest the state of performing arts which is affected by market forces. Folk dance forms are no longer considered prestigious. The state has worsened with only a few realising the vibrancy they entail," says Sindhu.