A mobile mirror

The onslaught of television channels for the last two and a half decades seems to have redefined the very notion of leisure and entertainment in the average Indian household. Today most of the population is beholden to satellite television for their daily dose of amusement. However, the majority of the rural population in the state of Assam still remains engrossed in the art form of mobile theatre. Imagine people queuing up to buy theatre tickets at 5 am. It's not an illusion or some utopian situation, but a reality across the state from mid-August to 13 April every year.

Assam, situated on India's northeast frontier, is home to this unique form of entertainment. The touring theatre groups visit towns and villages, carrying their own stage equipment, generators and even auditoriums in trucks. They pitch their tents in open spaces and erect makeshift auditoriums with seating capacities between 2000 and 2500. For quick changes of scene, two stages are erected. After rehearsing for about two months, each theatre troupe travels across the state to 70 pre-determined locations and performs for 210 consecutive nights, staging plays for three to four days in each place. Come winter, spring or early rain, nothing deters the local folk, and every year theatre aficionados pack the tents in droves, making mobile theatre the biggest entertainment industry in the entire Northeast and leaving mainstream cinema far behind.