“Drama is an imitation of the contemporary style of man”
Dramaturgy in India is a long-standing concept. Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra, the first Sanskrit work on dramaturgy, forms the encyclopedia of Indian civilization along with Kautilya's Artha Shastra and Vatsyayana’s Kama Shastra. According to various external pieces of evidence, it can be alleged that Bharata Muni lived about 400 BCE or even earlier.
It is alleged that Brahma was once requested by the gods for entertainment for the eyes and the ears of all the people. Due to him being held with other work, he chose sage Bharata to write the grammar for such entertainment. He instructed Bharata to make rules for everything connected with theatre while presenting him with a copy of his Natyaveda, which is considered to be the fifth Veda, comprising selections from the Rigveda (recitation), musical cadence from Samaveda, makeup and postures from Yajurveda, and emotive base of performance from Atharvaveda. However, in the last chapter, the story claims that it was re-written or edited by Vatsya, Sandilya, Kohala, and Dattila, who are better renowned as the descendants of Bharata.
Natya Shastra is regarded as a series of question and answer sessions between Bharata and his hundred sons and is an encyclopedia and a manual on the theory and practice of Indian aesthetics – theatre, music, dance, poetics, gestures, and many other allied arts.
The Natya Shastra talks at length of “Natya”, originating from the word “nat”, meaning to dance or to act. It provides the basic source of information on the intricacies of Indian theatre. The mythic origin of dramatic art, the construction of theatres, the detailed introductions, the treatment of “rasa” and “bhava”, the different types of Abhinaya-aharya (costume and make-up), Vacika (verbal), Angika (gestures and dance movements) and Sattvika (indicating mental reactions) — dances, footsteps, songs, modes of address, classification of the story (itivritta) which form the body of the theatre, the Sandhi-sandhyanga division of the plot, and others.
Although there were many commentaries on the Natyashastra, we are only left with Abhinava Bharata of Abhinavagupta which was roughly later half of the 10th and first half of the 11th C.E., as the others are misplaced. Besides Abhinavagupta, there are only three commentators which include Lolata who gave the theory of the Aropevada (attribution), Shankuka, and Acharya Bhattanayayaka who gave the theory of Bhuktivada (theory of taste) based on Sadharanikarana (generalization).
The available text which is based on the manuscript of the Abhinavabharti, a commentary of Abhinavagupta, has 36 chapters and the following are its major contents:
Origins of Natyaveda (the science of dramatic performance), and the concept of Anukarana (imitation) of life for a dramatic presentation. Three kinds of theatre buildings and their ritual consecration by the sponsor, a rich person, or a king.
Purvaranga (preliminary performance) in nineteen parts to please the gods and the audience, definition of eight rasas (aesthetic sentiments) - shrigara (erotic love), vira (heroism), karuna (pathos), hasya (laughter), bibhatsa (disgust, bhayanaka (fear), raudra (wrath), and adbhuta (wonder), sthayi bhavas (basic sentiments), vibhavas (causes and determinants of the rise of emotion) and anubhavas (gestures) and sanchari bhavas (transitory emotions) as crucial elements of the emotional experience in theatre.
Four kinds of abhinayas (acting/expression) - angika abhinaya (bodily expression) to depict emotions/feelings of a character being played by the actor, vacika abhinaya (linguistic expression) to express emotions/feelings, tone, diction, the pitch of a particular character, aharya abhinaya (costumes of the characters and stage decoration) to enhance expression, sattvika abhinaya (voluntary changes expressed by the presence of tears, the mark of horripilation, change of facial color, trembling of lips, enhancing of nostrils) to express the deepest emotions of a character. It is the highest kind of acting.
Two kinds of dharmis (theatrical representations) - lokadharmi (artistic representation of the ordinary world or the real life) and natyadharmi (artistic representation of the imaginary worlds like svarga (heavens), patala (underworld).
Four kinds of vrittis (modes of productions) - bharati (dominance of spoken contents) kaishiki (dominance of dance and music) sattvati (dominance of elevated and heroic feelings) and arabhati (dominance of violent and conflictual actions, and the four pravrittis - avanti, dakshinatya, panchali and magadhi (the tastes of audiences in various parts of India).
Four kinds of atodyas (musical instruments used on the stage).
Ganam or dhruvas (songs sung in the course of dramatic action at five junctures - praveshiki (song sung before the entry of a character), naishkramiki (song sung to sooth emotions of the audience after a very moving or shocking scene), akshepiki (song sung to create an intervention) and antara (song sung in between episodes to entertain the audience); and finally ranga (theatre house).
Dasarupakas (the ten types of plays extending from one-act play to ten act plays.)
Itivritta (structure of the dramatic plot), the stages of action, the nature of episodes, and the interconnected emotional states of the hero.
Nayakas (heroes) and nayikas (heroines).
Svaras (musical notes), gramas (musical scales), and atodyavidhi (ways of playing musical instruments like the strings, flutes, drums, and cymbals).
To be more precise, Natya or drama was regarded by Bharata as some kind of imitation, be it speech, gesture, demeanor, appearance, attire, whatever was in trend in contemporary society. Drama cannot be a blind imitation or just a visual documentary. Drama awakens its audience to truth or fact, which is hardly grasped in the day-to-day reality. According to Bharata, the numerous varieties of bhava must be taken primarily into account in a play. The effect of bhava with the mood or impression caused by this imitation gives birth to the total dramatic effect on the spectators, which ultimately is the rasa.
Bharata’s Natya comprises Vastu (plot), Neta (hero), Rasa (flavor), Laksana (signs and symptoms), Alamkara (artistic frills), Nritya-sangita (dance and music), and topping all Abhinaya (acting), and also emphasizes Nataka (heroic play), Prakarana (social play), presence of Purusartha, or human values.
Bharata believed a play leaves enough room to launch on a search for human values, not just blind pessimism.
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