Day 2 Lavani

I guess most of my friends are well acquainted with Marathi and Maharashtrian culture so perhaps have a first-hand information about Lavani(A famous folk dance from Maharashtra maza). This dance is accompanied by typical music where the lead dancer is accompanied by a group of other dancers in the background, you can say Dholkichya talavar… Lavani is ideally performed by a female performer and has a very distinctive entry….tak tak tak tak there is a dholki thap and the artist enters with ghunghat, facing backwards towards audience.
Lavani is derived from the word, Lavanya which means beauty…and it qualifies itself under shringar rasa.
The songs used in Lavani are mostly erotic in nature but there are lavanis which has a tinge of satire on social problems. Major instruments are dholki, manjeera, lejim, tuntuni and harmonium.
There are two types of Lavani : Nirguni (Free from any guna or type – philosophical) and Shringari( you can guess what..) I could not get a single Nirguni Lavani in youtube..so you can see the popularity of Shringari Lavani...
The poet-singer- is called Shahir while narrator-singer is called Nacha. Nacha is more commonly seen in Tamasha, the dramatic manifestation of Lavani....Usually, Nacha wears some lipsticks and shows woman-like nakhras..In short you can say, Lavani is a dance fragment of Tamasha.
Mostly we find Lavanis from Dhangars/shepherds but its also has its roots in Madhya Pradesh. Naik Banjara and Ranubai and their love songs and tale of balabau are well-known stories of lavani from MP.
Attire is nine-yard silk sari, usually bright in color with accessories like kolhapuri saaj, a long necklace and nath and hair-style is a bun called Ambada decorated with gajras…all possible shringar to please the audience...(yeah yeah I know Madhuri didn’t in Humko aaj kal hai intezar…but that was not Lavani…:)…)

1. Here is one Lavani from movie Ashanti performed by Shabana Azmi, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman. Lavangi mirchi mein Kolhapur ki..sung by Asha+Lata…..Please observe the costumes and enjoy beautiful dholaki…..
let me know tikhaa laga ke nahi?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN28DnyYLqo

2. Viddya Balan’s Lavani performance in Ferrai..I agree this is fimli lavani but comes close to lavani than chikni chameli….or ayya girl..Atleast I feel this is close to Lavani....I dont consider song with marathi base as lavani...as mungda and all...so after carefully scrutinizing the songs here is the song....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzyZ9kPRo8A

3. How can I have a post without Madhuri?...lol seriously guys I could not find any other performance close to Lavani... Madhuri had performed on several songs collaged in a performance in Jhalak Dikhla Ja...but I feel the present song from Anjam is better in terms of music...listen carefully to the beats between the stranzas..and words, costumes and moves...shringar ras se paripurna....but still graceful...
Mein Kolhapur se aayi hun.

.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzFzV5RgAVM

Madhuri dixit on( apsara aali+dholkichya talavar+mein Kolhapur se aayi hun+uchaki) in jhalak dikhlaja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6i8U33duQY

Lets nowl move on to Marathi Lavani today as I could not find suitable similar compositions in Hindi.

Marathi movies were dominated by Tamasha/Lavanis and people’s life sketches that were from Tamasha background. Some of the notable movies include Pinjra(Sandhya), Sangtye Aika(Jayashri Gadkar) , Natrang(Sonali Kulkarni and Amruta Khanvilkar) , Ek Hota Vidushak (Laxmikant Berde), Tamasha - Hach Khel Udya punha( (Bharat Jadhav).

· 4. Jayashri Gadkar was a noted Marathi actress of 50s and 60s and was aptly called lavani queen as she has so many lavani to her credit.(Later she shifted to being Kaushalya in Famous Ramayana serial where her husband Bal Dhuri played the role of Dashratha). She was a Jr. artist in Jhanak Jhanak Payal baje and later started Lavani career from Sagtye Aika Infact, the lavani was adopted by Marathi films in the sixties from this movie.It was based on the biography of tamasha legend Hansa Wadkar.Some of well-known performances of Jayashri Gadkar are :

· Sawal Jawab with Arun Sarnaik from Sawal Majha Aika, sung by famous Lavani singer Sulochana Chavhan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f5_E18PCfg

· Bugadi mazi sandal ga from Shraddhanjali

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml7SUhYj_GE

· Khara Saangu from Bijli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rcB4BAWpLc

· 5. Sandhya, wife of V. Shantaram also gave many Marathi lavani hits. You can enjoy Sandhya’s famous Lavani, “Latpat latpat tuje chalna” from Amar Bhopali, 1951….you can observe the mavlas and kind of setup in Shivaji Era..beautiful rhythmical wordings and sung by Lataji in her best..If you just listen to this song you may not imagine its Lavani..This is not Tamasha’s Lavani….so dance steps are different than typical, as well as the costume: Lavani originated from the 15th century when the Peshwa rule was reigning. There were many singers of Marathi culture who were famous with their music. Then it was Honaji Baba who introduced the tabla instead of the dholki. Then the concept of the baithakichi Lavani started where the performer is seen in a seated position.So enjoy this baithakichi lavani:

· Latpat latpat tujhe chalne- Amar Bhopali

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Hav1JVGNA

· Disla ga baai disla – Pinjara

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIk_MFA4saU

· Chabidar chabi sandya hey vagana bara nava..scoail message

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1wfogAwKL8

· 6. Popular Lavanis in Recent times:

- Amruta Khanvilkar - Vajale ki Bara - Natrang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXUijOhdnDQ

- Sonali Kulkarni - Apsara Ali – Natrang ( she is different than Dil Chahta hai wali Sonali Kulkarni J)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_sCh4kx-Lk

- Resham Tipnis – Me Sataryachi gulchhadi – Bakula Namdev Ghotal