After taking over a mall in Chennai, giant puppets by France-based Les Grandes Personnes will now perform in Puducherry

As part of Bonjour India 2022, life-sized puppets put up shows across the country

A squeal of delight. A gasp of horror. And peals of laughter fill the courtyard at Phoenix MarketCity in Chennai, on Friday evening. For, dwarfing the crowd is a family of giant puppets: Karna, Kanchana and their half-tiger daughter Meenu. There is also Sheenaa, a young vagabond, who breezes across the space, dancing, ruffling a few heads, and unapologetically walking through cosy couples and other spectators. Performers from Chennai-based Koothu-P-Pattarai play drums in the background.

The puppets play the integral characters in A Twist of Fate, a production by Les Grandes Personnes, a collective from Aubervilliers in France that has been making giant puppets for over 20 years. This show is part of Bonjour India 2022 that celebrates 75 years of India’s independence, and Indo-French ties. It is organised by the French Embassy in India, Institut Francais, and Alliance Francaise India.

“The collective’s idea is to make art for everybody and not just people who go to museums,” says Caroline Brillon, a member of Les Grandes Personnes. The puppets measure between three and four metres in height. “They are made of papier-mâché. The structure has spring wires inside to facilitate better mobility,” explains Yoann Cottet, another member of the collective. “They are not heavy,” he smiles, when asked how much they weigh. The puppets are fitted with cushioned backpacks that performers put on as the show begins; this gives the structure more height.

It takes around three weeks to make one puppet. There is a central column around which the pieces are attached. “Sometimes there are four people working on the head alone,” says Yoann. This batch of puppets was made in India, in Puducherry. “We started work on them in March 2020, during a workshop in Pondicherry, mainly with students of theatre. We weren’t able to finish it because of Covid and we had to fly back to France,” says Caroline. Last October, the incomplete puppets were flown back to France where they were then completed before being flown back to India for the show that started off in Lodhi Gardens in Delhi and will now take place in Puducherry on April 3 (at the promenade, from Gandhi Thidal to the French Consulate).

With so much travelling happening with the puppets, the creators, over the years have found newer methods to make each body part more compact so they fit in smaller boxes, as opposed to the large cases they were earlier flown in.

There have been times, when, on tour, the puppets required repair work, says Yoann. There is a team ready to fix things. It is a lot of work and involves sculpting, puppeteering, costume manipulating, smiles Caroline.

After the debut in India, the puppets will again fly back to France for shows of A Twist of Fate around the country.