Nayakva is a ballad in the Bhojpuri language that is native to Eastern Uttar Pradesh. It is also known by a different name, Banjarva, in Varanasi. The genre is now on the decline and we find fewer artists performing it now. The current generation doesn’t find it all that appealing when compared to film music and other pop music. The style includes and mix of narration and singing. The singing part is accompanied by a chorus. The stories are long, with many characters and subplots and parallel developments. They are narrated across hours and tell the story of Nayak, the protagonist who finds himself in odd and adventurous situations. The genre is hence called Nayakva.

Harmonium and percussion instruments, like Dholak, are typically used in Nayakva. The instrumentalists also join in the chorus. The genre is closely related to other ballad and narration-based folk forms like Aalha and Sorathi. The protagonists from these different genres also make appearances in Nayakva, adding to its mythical elements and fantasy.

Amarjit and his group are from Hathni, a village in the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the Easternmost parts of the state. The culture of the place is largely influenced by the Bhojpuri language, and Nayakva is a definitive folk form in that language. The group has recorded with some local labels in Azamgarh and has performed all around Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They perform on different occasions like birth, weddings and even death and choose the appropriate stories to narrate for these occasions. Amarjit believes that the secret to being a good performer is to correctly recognise the audience’s mood and tune the music to it accordingly.