Bhikhari Thakur

Thakur was born in a barber family on 18 December 1887 in Kutubpur village in Chhapra.[6] Initially his village was the part of Shahabad district but later due to the change in the course of the Ganges got saperated from Shahabad and became the part of Saran district.[7] His father Dalsingar Thakur was a barber and his mother's name was Sivkali Devi. Due to poor condition of his family, Thakur did not even manage to complete his primary education. He only had the knowledge of the Kaithi alphabets.[8] In his adolescence, he got married to Matuna.[9] He used to graze cattle in his childhood and when he grew up he had to adopt his family profession of a Barber. However, he wanted to do something else and did not want to do the job of Barber. He shifted from his village to the neighboring village named Fatanpur. After that, he left his family and went to Kharagpur in the search of job.[10] From there he went to Medinipur and started doing some job. He used to watch the Ramlila, and from there he got the inspiration to write and act in plays. He returned to his village formed a drama company and start performing Ramilia.[11] After that he started writing and directing plays by his own. Thakur mainly picked the social issue and wrote plays on them and performed them.[12]

The first play written by Bhikhari Thakur was Birahā Bahār, he wrote his most famous play Bidesiya in 1917. Between 1938 to 1962, more than three dozen books of Bhikhari Thakur published.[13] Thakur died on 10 July 1971.

Most of the works of Bhikhari Thakur was based on the problem of the society like plight of the migrants and women, poverty, Mother's love, etc.[14] Bhikhari Thakur published 29 Books and Bookelts in his career. List of them are as follow:

• Bidesiya
• Gabarghichor
• Beti Bechwa
• Ganga Asnan
• Radheshyam Bahar
• Nanad Bhaujai
• Bhai Birodh
• Kaljug Prem
• Bidhwa Bilap
• Putrabadh
• Chauvarn Padavi
• Nar Nav Avatar
• Naai Bahar
• Budhsala ke Bayan
• Biraha Bahar
• Bhand ke Nakal
• Nabin Biraha Bahar
• Harikirtan
• Jasoda Sakhi Sambaad
• Chaujugi
• Jai Hind Khabar
• Bhajanmala
• Mata Bhakti
• Naam Ratan
• Ram Naam Mala
• Seeta Ram Parichay
• Ek Arti Duniya bha' ke
• Pustika Suchi
• Sanka Samdhan

His published and unpublished works were compiled by Bhikhari Thakur Aashram and published in three parts as Bhikhari Thakur Granthavali. The first part was published in 1979 in which his five plays are compiled namely, Bidesiya, Bhai Birodh, Beti Bechwa, Kaljug Prem and Radheshyam Bahar. The second part was published in 1986 in which five more plays are there, namely Putra Badh, Gabarghichor, Nanad-Bhaujai, Ganga Asnan and Bidhwa Bilaap. The third and last part have his other plays, songs and monologues.[15]

Plays of Bhikhari Thakur was different from modern plays of 20th century, which used to have dialogues only, in spite of this, the plays of Thakur was more closer to the style used in classical Sanskrit theatre and Shakespeare's style, which used to contain songs and dialogues both.[16] Playsys written by Thakur imbibed many principles from the Classical Indian Theatre.For example, His plays used to start with maṃgalācaran which is an essential part of Sanskrit plays in which prayers are dedicated to Ganapati and Saraswati, asking for the blessings. They also had Samājī which is equivalent to Shutradhāra of Sanskrit theatre and Chorus of Greek Theatre. The samaji used to explain about the play in the Prologue, its characters and used to draw example parallel to Hindu mythology.[17] Another important part of his plays was labār which are known as viduṣak in Indian classical theatre, who used to come in the middle of the play just to entertain the audience by doing some comedy.[18]

The characters of the plays of Bhikhari Thakur are of types representing the general rather than the particular. For example, in the play Bidesiya, the character of Bidesi represents all the young men who used to go to Assam and Bengal for earning. Similarly Batohi means Traveller and represents a random person who is going to Kolkata.[19]

The plays and songs of Bhikhari Thakur depict the evils that were corroding the society.[20] Bidesiya depicts the pain of a woman whose husband leaves her and marries another woman, Beti Bechwa depicts the practice of unequal marriage, Bidhwa Bilaap depicts that a widow is treated and cheated by the society and her family. Besides social problems, Thakur has also talked about the separation of joint families in Bhai Birodh and Nanad-Bhaujai. In Kaljug Prem or Piyawa Nasaïl, he has shown the consequences of drinking and impact on the family. In Putrabadh, a Stepmother plans to kill her Stepson. Ganga Asnan exposes the frauds of the dhongi Brahmins.[21]

• Thakur made a special appearance in a song of Bhojpuri movie Bidesiya in 1963.[22]

Bhikhari Thakur got immense appreciation for his play who used to reveal the reality of the society. People called him with the titles like Raibahadur and Shakespeare of Bhojpuri. Rahul Sankrityayan who gave him the title of Shakespeare has commented on him:[23]

In 1944, Bihar Government gave him the title of Rai Bahadur or Rai Sahab[24] and was felicited with a Copper Shield.[25]

• Bhikharinama is a musical play written on the life of Bhikhari Thakur.[26]

• The Legacy of Bhikhari Thakur

• Bhikhari Thakur at IMDb
• http://www.bhikharithakur.com/
• भिखारी ठाकुर के व्यक्तित्व और कृतित्व पर समर्पित जाल स्थल (bidesia.co.in)
• सूत्रधार (भिखारी ठाकुर के जीवन पर सुप्रसिद्ध कथाकार
• भिखारी ठाकुर कृत बिदेसिया नाटक (pdf file)
• भिखारी ठाकुर का एकमात्र प्रकाशित साक्षात्कार (बिदेसिया, 1987 में प्रकाशित)
• BHOJPURI ARTISTIC TRADITION AND BHOKHARI THAKUR
• लोक कला मर्मज्ञ और सुप्रसिद्ध नाटककार जगदीश चंद्र माथुर का भिखारी ठाकुर पर संस्मरण (1971 में प्रकाशित)
• एंजोय डर्टी पिक्चर,वी कांट टॉलरेट लौंडा (परिचयात्मक आलेख)
• ब्रेख्त,भिखारी,बादल और बोल (भिखारी ठाकुर के रंगमंचीय अवदान पर तुलनात्मक आलेख)
• Bhikhari Thakur