Marathi Play Bhirrr Brings Unrecorded Ovi Folk Songs to Mumbai Stage

Theatre practitioner Mayuri Ravindra has brought the unrecorded oral folk traditions of rural Maharashtra to the stage with her play 'Bhirrr...', staged recently at The Tamaasha Studio in Mumbai. The performance draws upon the ovis—short, unrhymed verses traditionally composed and sung by women during daily household and farm labour—originating from the village of Abdullat in Kolhapur district.

Co-devised and co-performed with Janhvi Marathe, the production explores how generations of women preserved memories, struggles, and humour through oral verses passed down without formal documentation. The creators spent time in Abdullat interacting with local matriarchs and a women's circle from the Dhangar community to collect and understand the living tradition.

The project was supported by the Niloufer Sagar Alumni Production Grant, an initiative established by the Drama School Foundation Mumbai. Ravindra, a 2022 graduate of Drama School Mumbai, developed the script through a rigorous selection and mentorship process involving theatre practitioners Anupam Barve, Chanakya Vyas, and choreographer-singer Sanjukta Wagh.

In addition to fieldwork in Kolhapur, the research drew insights from the People’s Archive of Rural India’s Grindmill Songs Project, the scholarship of Dr Tara Bhavalkar, and the poetry of Bahinabai Chaudhari. The resulting performance focuses on female authorship, challenging the erasure of women's creative contributions in folk literature.