Khyal in general as a folk-theatre form assimilates vocal and instrumental music and dance besides histrionics and the art of costume design. A Khyal actor has to be a 'total actor' one who can act, sing, and dance with precision to the accompaniment of the Naqqara (kettledrum). Khyal is an all-male affair. with men playing female roles. The Kuchamani Khyal is specific to western Rajasthan and is dis tinct from the other professional genre of Khyal preval ent in Rajasthan, the Shekhawati Khyal. It is a style that emerged out of the Khyal theatre performed by village fo lk around the Holi festival a night-long theatre-in -the-round performance of mythological, historical, or social dramas already well-known to the audience.