Puppet theatres and puppet shows are a major attraction for children. Through them they can be educated about the harsh realities of life, which they have to come across later in life. Puppet shows have been one the most ancient sources of entertainment for the mankind. Over the years, it developed into a powerful medium of communicative art, as it offers a real challenge to the imagination of viewers and creative ability of those presenting it.
The art is probably the least expensive of all visual animated art forms. A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object – a puppet – in real time to create the illusion of life. Depending on the type of puppetry, the puppeteer may be visible to, or, hidden from the audience. Traditionally, the Subcontinent has a rich heritage of puppetry. The history of puppetry in the region dates back to circa 5th century BC.
The early puppet shows here dealt mostly with historical themes, stories of kings, princes and war heroes. In addition to this, political satire was also a favorite subject. In Pakistan, Farooq Qaisar popularised the art through his popular show Kalian that ran for decades on the PTV. Qaisar created interesting characters and highlighted social norms and ills through a light-hearted comedy. Over the years, his puppet characters became the household names.
The appeal of Farooq’s talent goes beyond the borders of Pakistan. His performances have been seen and appreciated in more than 40 countries since 1971 onwards. But in this age of digital entertainment with cable TV channels airing cartoons around-the-clock and showing 3-D animated and fantasy movies, the puppet shows are becoming a rarity for Pakistani children. Yet some institutions such as the National Puppet Theatre (NPT) of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) are still struggling to keep the art alive.
The NPT is superbly using this medium to convey meaningful messages to their audience. The institution was set up in 1975 and to-date it is winning the hearts of children and grown-ups alike. It has been a great medium for the promotion of our culture and a message of peace, harmony and love to the rest of the world. Those who were the NPT pioneers indl The late Faqir Hussain Saga, Shahid Toosy and Zulfiqar Ahmed were the pioneers of the NPT.
Shahid Toosy got his training in China and later he formed a group of his friends who proved the worth in the fascinating art of rod puppetry. It rendered a new flare to the art and the NPT. To-date, the NPT has given more than 20,000 performances not only in the major cities of Pakistan but also in small towns and villages. The programme has been extended even to the remotest areas of the country.
Besides providing entertainment, the program aims at educating people. Adults and children gain knowledge from these interesting musical shows and get inspiration from the moral and historical stories acted out by puppets. Many common social problems with possible solutions are favorite themes of these shows, which aim at creating awareness, better civic sense and patriotism. Besides these themes, filial obligations, family ties, healthcare, cleanliness, environmental issues are also presented in a light vein and interesting manner but with an underlying sobriety and seriousness of the message.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Zulfiqar Ahmed, the director of the NPT and Children Art Workshop (CAW), said the puppet show was a regular feature held on every Monday evening. “Over the years, the NPT team has developed entertaining stories with didactic themes. One of its most popular dramatic programs is the ‘Story of Pakistan’ which has been presented before many heads of states and other dignitaries and has been highly commended,” Zulfiqar observed.
The NPT director said they had recently held shows for 20 days in various parts of the Punjab province to create awareness about spread the dengue fever, natural calamities like floods and tremors. He said the shows also conveyed the message of patriotism and love for the country. “The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) also organised shows that entertained audiences in Sargodha, Faisalabad, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh,” Zulfiqar added. He said the most the children were the most enthusiastic among the audience and they expressed their overwhelmingly appreciation of the puppet shows.
Zulfiqar said that through colorful puppets, children could learn a great deal about social in a unique way and popular folk tales, skits and national songs were a great medium to educate them using their imagination. Over the years, the NPT has also introduced folk dances in their puppet shows. It is simply a unique delight to watch these performances.
