}
Akbar and Birbal visit Swindon [OH843]
This film, produced by the Bristol-based Asian Arts Agency, takes an intimate look at a theatrical workshop, focussing on the Tales of Birbal, as developed by Mashi Theatre. The session enabled children and their families to take part in storytelling and puppet making. The Birbal stories (often known as the Akbar-Birbal stories) are a prominent and popular part of Indian folk lore and are still recounted by South Asian families living in Bristol.
A?: Come in, come in, I was just about to tell you a story.
[Overtalking 00:00:11].
A?: Do you recognise these?
A?: These do, yeah.
A?: So we were just talking about some characters, an emperor and his wise man, you might recognise these, the emperor is called Akbar, and the wise man is called Birbal.
[Singing song]
A?: So these stories are stories that I used to read when I was very little, and they are actually for – do you recognise these [laughs]? When we used to go to India when we were little, we used to get to the train station, they sold these comic books and we’re just about to hear another story.
A?: Another story.
A?: What do you think a punishment is?
A?: No.
A?: I think what you get if you did something wrong.
A?: Ah. So somebody pulled the emperor’s moustache, what punishment would they have?
A?: At once there was a clammer of voices, they must be flogged, off with their head, and the courtiers stopped shouting at [?unclear], what do you think Birbal? And Birbal said, your majesty, the person who pulled your moustache must be given a sweet. Explain yourself said Akbar, it had better be good. The only person at your kingdom who would dare to do such a thing, is your granddaughter. Hmm. Would we like to make some puppets?
[Lots of shouting of yes]
A?: So where would you like [inaudible 00:01:54]?
A?: Semi circle.
A?: These are puppets that are from Rajasthan, which I believe is somewhere in India. They’re kind of dancing puppets, so it could be that that’s supposed to be like –
A?: Like a funny [inaudible 00:02:05].
A?: Yeah.
A?: They do have an instrument like that.
A?: Oh.
A?: Do they, oh thank you.
A?: Ooh, she spins, really nice, she can float around, you don’t have to worry about moving legs, because there aren’t any legs.
[Overtalking 00:02:17] [all laugh].
A?: It’s not a puppet [laughs].
A?: That’s upside down, and then you put your hand in, I’m looking mostly at the adults in the room for this. There you go.
[Music playing]
A?: [Inaudible 00:02:50], who have we got here?
A?: Birbal.
A?: That’s Birbal.
A?: Oh, they’re all sitting together, that’s nice.
A?: Are they going to get to know each other over lunch while we have lunch?
[Music playing]
A?: Once upon a time, the princess was walking through the desert, and she met another lady, the princess said, “Where should we go, I’m starving,” the lady and the princess went to the castle, the guard captured them.
A?: What did the guard say to them?
A?: “We will be taking you in,” and then there was a big fight, the king came out and said, “Let them in, don’t worry, she good.”
A?: Yeah, the camera’s running now, lower the characters a bit, their heads are disappearing off the screen, that’s it.
A?: Lower a bit. Stop.
A?: Okay, I –
A?: Stop.
A?: Okay, and you need to say action when things are ready.
A?: Action.
A?: Hello, I’m Tinkerbell the princess, I’ve just come from a barbeque.
A?: That was a nice supper, now let’s meet the princess.
A?: I’m [inaudible 00:04:21] I’ve just been to a birthday party. And there was a skeleton and he was [inaudible 00:04:30] and then they didn’t [inaudible 00:04:35].
A?: Did the king need some advice from an advisor?
A?: Yeah, and then the king needed advice from advisor, and where was the advisor.
A?: Hello, I am Birbal and I came back from a barbeque and at the barbeque I had some pizza. And it was very nice, and it had some chicken on top, and now I am here.
A?: You’re having chicken.
A?: He’s falling down.
A?: They all had a good time, yeah.
A?: What are you doing dad?
[Music playing]
A?: Come in, come in, I was just about to tell you a story.
[Overtalking 00:00:11].
A?: Do you recognise these?
A?: These do, yeah.
A?: So we were just talking about some characters, an emperor and his wise man, you might recognise these, the emperor is called Akbar, and the wise man is called Birbal.
[Singing song]
A?: So these stories are stories that I used to read when I was very little, and they are actually for – do you recognise these [laughs]? When we used to go to India when we were little, we used to get to the train station, they sold these comic books and we’re just about to hear another story.
A?: Another story.
A?: What do you think a punishment is?
A?: No.
A?: I think what you get if you did something wrong.
A?: Ah. So somebody pulled the emperor’s moustache, what punishment would they have?
A?: At once there was a clammer of voices, they must be flogged, off with their head, and the courtiers stopped shouting at [?unclear], what do you think Birbal? And Birbal said, your majesty, the person who pulled your moustache must be given a sweet. Explain yourself said Akbar, it had better be good. The only person at your kingdom who would dare to do such a thing, is your granddaughter. Hmm. Would we like to make some puppets?
[Lots of shouting of yes]
A?: So where would you like [inaudible 00:01:54]?
A?: Semi circle.
A?: These are puppets that are from Rajasthan, which I believe is somewhere in India. They’re kind of dancing puppets, so it could be that that’s supposed to be like –
A?: Like a funny [inaudible 00:02:05].
A?: Yeah.
A?: They do have an instrument like that.
A?: Oh.
A?: Do they, oh thank you.
A?: Ooh, she spins, really nice, she can float around, you don’t have to worry about moving legs, because there aren’t any legs.
[Overtalking 00:02:17] [all laugh].
A?: It’s not a puppet [laughs].
A?: That’s upside down, and then you put your hand in, I’m looking mostly at the adults in the room for this. There you go.
[Music playing]
A?: [Inaudible 00:02:50], who have we got here?
A?: Birbal.
A?: That’s Birbal.
A?: Oh, they’re all sitting together, that’s nice.
A?: Are they going to get to know each other over lunch while we have lunch?
[Music playing]
A?: Once upon a time, the princess was walking through the desert, and she met another lady, the princess said, “Where should we go, I’m starving,” the lady and the princess went to the castle, the guard captured them.
A?: What did the guard say to them?
A?: “We will be taking you in,” and then there was a big fight, the king came out and said, “Let them in, don’t worry, she good.”
A?: Yeah, the camera’s running now, lower the characters a bit, their heads are disappearing off the screen, that’s it.
A?: Lower a bit. Stop.
A?: Okay, I –
A?: Stop.
A?: Okay, and you need to say action when things are ready.
A?: Action.
A?: Hello, I’m Tinkerbell the princess, I’ve just come from a barbeque.
A?: That was a nice supper, now let’s meet the princess.
A?: I’m [inaudible 00:04:21] I’ve just been to a birthday party. And there was a skeleton and he was [inaudible 00:04:30] and then they didn’t [inaudible 00:04:35].
A?: Did the king need some advice from an advisor?
A?: Yeah, and then the king needed advice from advisor, and where was the advisor.
A?: Hello, I am Birbal and I came back from a barbeque and at the barbeque I had some pizza. And it was very nice, and it had some chicken on top, and now I am here.
A?: You’re having chicken.
A?: He’s falling down.
A?: They all had a good time, yeah.
A?: What are you doing dad?
[Music playing]