Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar has instructed his party members not to hold unsightly public events in the name of Lavani, a popular folk song and dance performance in Maharashtra. Though he did not name any artist in particular, his anger was directed at 26-year-old Dhule-based Lavani artist Gautami Patil, who is quite famous on social media.
Last week During the meeting of the cultural cell of NCP, famous Lavani dancer Megha Ghadge had complained about Lavani dance. His complaint has been taken seriously. Ghadge told The Indian Express that Ajit Pawar was not targeting any individual dancer, but making girls dance in front of the public wearing ghagra choli and DJ playing. "Lavani culture " But this raises a question mark.
Ghadge told The Indian Express that he had asked Pawar to ensure that NCP workers did such obscene dances only to woo the crowd. Ko na kare.
Who is Gautami Patil
Gautami Patil is a social media star. It’s only been a year since Patil became a social media sensation by doing Lavani dance on the internet. 1 year ago, Patil had made a small clip on Lavani, in which she was making obscene gestures. This video of Lavani was during her live performance. This video made Patil an internet sensation overnight. After this, a lot of crowd started gathering in Patil’s dance shows. Many times, during the show, there was a fierce commotion on the stage itself. A person had also died in Sangli district.
Patil, who hails from Dhule district in north Maharashtra, was brought up by her mother and shifted to Pune after studying till Class VIII. Patil says that, "I always loved dancing, but I never thought that dance would be my career. My alcoholic father never lived with us. I started my career as a back dancer in Lavani program in Akluj city and now I am doing live dance on Lavani since nine years.
Patil Apologies for my dance Has also demanded
Patil has also apologized once for her performance during the live dance. In which he said that the DJ was playing, so I got carried away and I will take care of it from now on.
Lavani does not mean obscene gestures
On one hand, Patil became famous with her dance, on the other hand, many stalwarts of this field also harshly criticized Patil. Lavani dancer Surekha Punekar criticized Patil in the Indian Express, saying that there should be a demand to ban Patil’s ‘obscene shows’.
Talking to a television channel, Punekar said that " There is a need to bring forward only those people in Lavani dance who have done excellent training in this dance, and they wear proper clothes during the dance. Those who make obscene gestures in the name of Lavani cannot be Lavani artists.
What is the identity of Lavani?
The word Lavani ‘ Comes from ‘lavanya’ or beauty. This is a Marathi word. Lavani is a traditional folk art. In this folk dance, the women dance to the beat of the dholak, wearing a nine-yard long saree in bright colors, make-up and ghungroos.
For centuries, Lavani has been identified as a completely indigenous art form. It gained special popularity during the Peshwa era of the 18th century. In those days, this dance was performed for the kings.
During the break in the wars, Lavani dance was also used to remove the fatigue of the tired soldiers and to entertain them. Then Lavani dance was presented in a very simple way. Gradually, instead of presenting it with ease and simplicity, Lavani dancers started giving place to obscenity, and gradually its identity as an art form went away.
Lavani began to be used by some great and famous poets in their poems, in this way Lavani started getting a different identity from the stage of folk songs. In the 80s and 90s, politics And due to the use of lyrics of Lavani songs in religious satire, the identity of Lavani increased further. Lavani was also used during this period to entertain the crowd.
Erotic style is also a part of Lavani
Many styles of Lavani The most famous of which is Shringarika i.e. erotic style. The lyrics of songs sung in erotic style are often like teasing the person in front. Its lyrics also use erotic words and erotic gestures are also done during the dance.
In the last few years, Lavani has become more popular among the people. Lavani’s audience has historically been all male, but in recent years a select few women have also come to watch the dance.
Lavani has also been used in popular media such as cinema. . With the growing trend of Lavani in cinema, this folk song started getting recognition across the country. Several short clips of this dance have received million likes on social media over the years.
What is the basis for the criticism?
The eroticism in Lavani The factor has been resented for a long time. In 1948, Balasaheb Kher, the then Chief Minister of Bombay, received several complaints regarding the alleged obscenity of Lavani dance. After this this dance was banned, while cultural historians have been refusing to accept this dance as an art form.
There is a lot of craze for Lavani in rural Maharashtra >
Even today people in rural Maharashtra like this dance very much and Lavani dancers are called in the function. At the same time, politicians and political parties often invite Lavani dancers to their meetings. Because of this, most of the youth and men join the crowd. These dancers perform Lavani dance on both Hindi and Marathi film songs. Women often wear strange clothes during the dance, and the crowd shouts loudly at their gestures.
Art luminaries have been opposing this practice of Lavani from the beginning. Senior dancers like Ghadge believe that the new-age girls’ lavani dance is making this dance practice vulgar and low.
Indian Express report mentions that this dance Till now no guidelines have been issued by the government. Nor is there any censorship. Because of this artists are losing respect in the eyes of the people.
Ghadge said that " I think there is a need to ban such obscene dance and obscene programs immediately. He said that there is a need to make rules for Lavani, or there should be some body that looks into such issues, and issues guidelines.
Ajit Pawar said last week, "Lavani and other arts of the Maharashtrian tradition are beautiful, but they should be done in a way that everyone can enjoy them. There should be no vulgarity of any kind. Obscene dances have been banned in some districts but the work to ban them is still going on in many districts. If needed, I can raise this issue in the upcoming budget session of the state assembly.
These names are famous for Lavani dance
- Marathi Shaheer poets and singers like Parasharam, Ram Joshi, Anant Fandy, Honnaji Bala, Prabhakar, Saganbhau, Lok Shaheer, Annabhau Sathe wrote many lavani songs
- Lokshahir Basheer Momin Kavthekar is a contemporary poet. Poets like Surekha Punekar, Sandhya Mane, Roshan Satarkar presented their Lavani compositions on stage in the 1980s.
- Satyabhamabai Pandharpurkar and Yamunabai Waikar also became famous for Lavani songs.  ;
