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Suggested By : NEERAJ
MEHRA
Mimicry is an age-old art. The
first mimicry artist
might have been a caveman, who copied animal voices to keep them
away. In Ramayana, when Rama chased Maricha
who was in the guise of the golden deer, Maricha shouted to
attract Lakshmana in imitation of Rama's
voice. In Mahabharata, Bhima used this art to entice and
eliminate the villain Keechaka. Mimicry artiste
should specialise in the imitation of voices.
It is
broadly of two kinds:
- imitation of the manner of
people's speaking;
- and reproduction of
mannerisms, gestures, characteristics and idiosyncrasies of the
concerned persons.
Imitation should cover the
voice as
well as gestures. Synchronised reproduction of both the features
will have the highest
entertainment value for the audience. The items of mimicry
should be brief, as it is a solo show. Mimicry comprises
imitation of public figures, actors, actresses, singers, birds,
animals, and sound of music
instruments, airplane, scooter, siren, car, motor bike, Rail
engine, telephone, etc. Well-known Indian
artists in mimicry are: Sunil Adak, Anup and Sadhan of Kolkata,
Neralla Venumadhav and Srinivos of
Hyderabad, Dilip Khanna, Johny Lever of Mumbai, Gopadkar of
Mangalore, Bhagwat Mann of Chandigarh, Dr.George
Mathew Purayidom of Kerala, etc.
The comedian Johnny Lever and
the singer Sudesh Bhonsle are also famous as
mimicry artists.
Potti Sriramulu
Telugu University of
Hyderabad runs a 1-year diploma course on mimicry.
Mimicry is needed for puppetry,
since any object, used as a puppet, would need different voice patterns
for
animation. The mimicry artists like me have been
pressing for recognition of their art as most have spent decades
perfecting their skills in not just
mimicking but also creating lines that have people in
splits. Attempts by the State to remove human stress through
this art are no doubt laudable. |
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