Guwahati, Feb. 1: Bihu may not be a national craze yet as Bhangra is, but Assam?s vibrant dance form has caught the fancy of south India.

Managers of leading tourist destinations of south India, led by Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, have approached the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati for Bihu troupes to perform before tourists on a short and long-term basis.

The offer includes a contract for six months to one year for the artistes, during which they will get between Rs 200 and Rs 300 a day along with food and accommodation. They will be required to perform twice or thrice a day, one performance not exceeding an hour.

Apart from being south India's largest film-shooting location, Ramoji Film City is a major tourist attraction and has hotels and restaurants to cater to the lakhs of people who visit the place for a glimpse of how the film world functions.

Kalakshetra secretary Gautam Sharma described Ramoji Film City?s interest in showcasing Bihu dance before tourists as a ?very positive development?, one that could provide employment to thousands of amateur and professional artistes. ?Such offers are also an acknowledgement of the growing popularity of Bihu in other parts of the country.?

Two Bihu troupes from the Kalakshetra, led by well-known exponents Hiren Sharma and Ranjit Gogoi, have already toured south India. Sharma sees in the offers to perform in Hyderabad and Bangalore regularly an opportunity for Bihu to compete with popular dance forms like Bhangra and Dandiya.

?A few years ago, Sangeet Natak Akademi secretary Jayant Kastowar watched a Bihu dance at the Kalakshetra and observed that the genre could match the popularity of Bhangra and Dandiya,? the Kalakshetra secretary said.

Even dance forms of tribal communities like the Bodos (Rwnswndri and Bagurumba), Rabhas (Farkanti), Tiwas (Barat), Hajongs (Lewatana) and Karbis (Sumangkam) have attracted the attention of tourism managers elsewhere. ?The Manipuri martial arts form Thang Ta has already become popular in some places,? Sharma said.

The Kalakshetra, acknowledged as the region?s culture hub, frequently organises workshops to fine-tune the skills of performing artistes. The Kalakshetra authorities are now trying to motivate its artistes to take up the offers from south India. ?Our biggest challenge is to motivate those who attend our workshops to take up the offers to perform outside the state on a regular basis. They are usually willing to make only short trips,? Sharma said.