This is how hundreds of `record dancers' -- those who perform imitations of matinee idols to live audiences -- eke out an existence. But for all their competence, they get a raw deal: the police charge them with obscenity and ban their shows at will. Women artistes face sexual advances, even rapes. Restrictions on their shows are increasing by the day.

The audiences, though, love them. To gain recognition, record dancers -- a regular feature at fairs and festivals -- have to be as good as, or even better than, the original. To those who cheer them on lustily, they are the heroes and heroines of the film world, in flesh and blood.

Nautch performers metamorphosed into record dancers when their art went into a decline. Soon, record dances gained popularity and many with a zeal for thestage began joining the profession. Audiences have been growing over the last 35 to 40 years, especially among the lower middle and working classes.

But then, there is the flip side to contend with. Less than a month ago at Anandapuram, a Visakhapatnam suburb, three women performers of a record dance troupe returning from a show were gang-raped by some youths. One girl who escaped tried to get police help. But the police did not even care to book a case till the incident was reported by the press the next day.

Following the incident, the district police imposed a ban on their performances and restricted their movements. They also arrested three organisers and four performers of a record dance show at Tallapalem near Kasimkota town on September 12.

As a result, the troupes have stopped staging shows since September 13. The police say they have clamped down on performances to prevent a recurrence of Anandapuram. They also accuse the performers of staging obscene dances.

But Visakha District ProfessionalArtistes Association president A R G Sarma wonders how song sequences passed by the film censor boards become obscene in the eyes of the local police. ``Thousands of people see these sequences in films. If they are not corrupted by them how are they corrupted by our recreation of the same sequences?'' Sarma asks.

``We are artistes. There is no need for us to be ashamed of what we do,'' says K Siva Kumari, a record dancer for two decades and vice-president of the Bhava Natya Kalakarula Sangham, which looks after their welfare.

``My mother Ramamani was a drama artiste and she introduced me to this profession. In fact, our entire family is involved in the performances,'' she says. Male artistes imitate heroes like N T Rama Rao (NTR), Akkineni and the new crop of heroes. The women perform the glamour roles.

The dancers rehearse thoroughly. Doubles of NTR, Nageswara Rao and Chirajeevi are groomed so thoroughly that from a distance, one can easily mistake them for the original.

And an entire establishmentrevolves around their survival. In the town nearby, for instance, 15 drama dress companies serve eight troupes comprising 350 artistes, with 10 girls in each troupe.

Ganesh Chaturthi and Dusserah, especially, are peak performance time.

Troupes from different centres exchange their dancers depending on local demand. They also perform in States like Orissa and West Bengal during festivals.

``My father was an alcoholic and ill-treated my mother and me. After my parents' death, I married an artiste, but he died,'' says Harika (not her real name), an artiste who hails from Guntur district. She refers to Siva Kumari, with whom she stays, as `pinni' (maternal aunt) with affection. ``They are more than my parents,'' she says with gratitude, tears clouding her eyes.

With the police on their heels, the Sangham is demanding identity cards for the artistes, so they are not branded prostitutes by the local police.

``With painted faces, we share our joy on stage with our audiences. We are not prostitutes,''declares 45-year-old Rajana Peda Lakshmi, president of the Anakapalle Professional Artistes Union.

What she perhaps implied, was that behind the joy and the warpaint, lay years of unacknowledged toil. But then, the vicissitudes of the real world are hard to swallow.