Girls fill boys’ shoes at Ramlilas

LUCKNOW: Ramlila seems to be another predominantly male territory into which women are elbowing their way. In fact, you could call it a gender shift. While boys played female characters earlier, even as their hoarse voices gave them away, girls are happily filling male leads’ shoes at Ramlilas now.
Ramlila committees say the current generation of boys seems to lack the concentration required to rehearse for the roles of Ram, Lakshman, Bharat and Shratughan.Adults can't be cast for these roles either because of their mature looks. Therefore, Ramlila committees are selecting 14 to15 year old girls to play the brothers and Sita.
Harsha Joshi, Tanisha Upreti, Richa Upreti and Chetna Joshi are rehearsing to play Ram, Lakshman, Bharat and Sita for the past few months in Pantnagar locality of Lucknow. What brought them here was either their love for music or the ambition to become actors. “A lot of girls were keen to participate. We cannot tell them to play ‘rakshasas' or be part of the ‘vanar sena' because that involves fighting sequences and also a bare-chested attire. So we are training girls to play Ram, Lakshman, Bharat and Sita,” said Pantnagar Ramlila committee secretary Bachey Singh Dolia.
Teenaged boys are apparently more interested in playing outside than going for Ramlila rehearsals. Many committees start training as early as in August and devoting over five hours everyday often makes boys withdraw. Organisers feel a bunch of boys is way more difficult to discipline than a group of girls. “They are also more punctual,” said Dolia.
Another reason for rooting for girls is that they seem to be more focused. A Ramlila committee in Kalyanpur has Ram being played by class 8 student Manju Pandey. “The girl is doing her job very well," said Kalyanpur Ramlila committee president Dinanath Gupta.
Boys also seem to back out as performing for colony residents doesn’t seem like incentive enough. Fourteen-year-old Prateek played the role of Sita in his ‘mohalla' Ramlila till two years ago. “Later I grew conscious of playing a female character,” he said.
Another actor, Hemant said, "It was a rigorous training. Also, I found it too dramatic." Some of the boys who stick to playing roles in Ramlila don't get to play main lead once they grow up. Ramshankar started off playing Ram 20-years back now he play Ravana. "Ram has to have those soft looks, an ever-smiling face that you do no get in men but only boys," he said.