00:00 Drum beats and exciting roars of the crowd filled the air.
00:15 The mood was wild and electric.
00:18 Thrissur city turned into a sea of stripes and spots as more than 250 human tigers and
00:24 leopards in a rollicking show of pulikali.
00:27 Leaving their dens, tigers of five contingents from Ayanthol, Viyur, Sitara Mill lane, Sakthan
00:33 and Kanatukara stormed the city to give a carnival-esque finish to the Onam celebrations.
00:40 The human tigers who regaled thousands, who thronged the Swaraj round and its bylanes
00:45 appeared in all possible colours.
00:47 They came in blue, black, fluorescent green and even pink.
00:53 Women too have been ensuring their presence in the past few years since they created history
00:58 by storming into the male bastion of pulikali in 2016.
01:02 The female tigress who excited the city of Thrissur by shining as a tigress in the famous
01:06 pulikali of Thrissur this year is becoming a star on social media.
01:11 So who is she?
01:13 She is none other than Nimisha Biju, a TV actress and the heroine of Santosh Pandit's
01:19 new film.
01:20 This is the first time that an actor from the film industry is playing the role of a
01:24 tiger.
01:25 After hearing the news of Nimisha Biju as Puli through social media, thousands of fans
01:29 flocked to watch the performance of this young actress.
01:33 This performance was done for the people through a week-long special training and fasting.
01:37 The pictures of the actor have already been taken over by the social media.
01:41 Nimisha, who was snubbed by another Desham before being accepted by Sitara Mill, said
01:46 that she was eagerly waiting for this opportunity.
01:48 "I have been watching Pulikali for many years and always wanted to participate in
01:52 it.
01:53 I contacted the organisers of various Deshams for six months.
01:56 They replied that it was really risky to take care of the women tigers in the crowd, which
02:00 was nothing but an excuse.
02:02 Anyhow, I have finally got an opportunity," said Nimisha.
02:06 As usual, pot-bellied tigers ruled the show.
02:09 Pulikali squads hunt for such performers, otherwise bullied for their huge tummies,
02:13 as faces of tigers can be drawn well on big bellies.
02:17 There were some skinny tiger cubs too who cartwheeled and some assaulted to regale the
02:21 audience.
02:22 There are no rigid rules for the dance movements.
02:25 Each artist creates his own style.
02:27 Outsiders may criticise it as a crude belly dance, but for the people of Thrissur, Onam
02:31 celebrations cannot be complete without Pulikali.
02:34 The huge crowd goaded the dancers to let loose their best roars and growls.
02:38 The tigers broke into wild dance steps.
02:40 Scenes such as tigers preying on other animals and tigers being hunted were enacted in between.
02:45 Pulikali, believed to have originated two centuries ago as a street dance form, became
02:50 part of Onam celebrations later.
02:52 Once dismissed as a rather obscene performance, it gained popularity after certain rules about
02:57 the style and dance steps were introduced.
03:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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