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Unveiling the curtains of Bharat Rang Mahotsav
PRIYA KANUNGO | New Delhi, January 18, 2012 19:00
Tags : Bahawalpur House | Bharat Rang Mahotsav | National School of Drama |
Tags : Bahawalpur House | Bharat Rang Mahotsav | National School of Drama |
Bahawalpur House has reason to be all dressed up these days. After all, it's the venue for the National School of Drama's (NSD) 14th annual Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) in Delhi... yet another talking point for the artistically inclined and the chatterati. Which play worked, which didn't; which director delivered, which actor didn't; were the props necessary?; was the lighting right?...all this in between checking each other out too.
This drama do gets slicker and the bandobast snazzier with each passing year. On show time, this year are 96 productions from across the country and theatre enthusiasts just seem to be coming out of the woodwork. As Anuradha Kapoor, director, NSD says: “This just goes to prove that all those obituaries that are periodically written for theatre,don't work. People do theatre under the most trying circumstances because they want to do it. Not because they are going to find a pot of gold. And there is an audience for it. ”
Funded entirely by the Ministry of Culture, this premiere theatre school has, in the last couple of years,been getting approximately Rs 30 crore annually for its functioning. Of that, roughly Rs 4 crore is funnelled into the Rang Mahotsav, says Kapoor.
Dramatic this exercise is, there is no debate about that. But is it just a “jamboree” that an “over funded institution” unleashes? That's what Akshara, theatre director, Ninasam, in Karnataka says it is. He feels there is no purpose in having a “festival of this magnitude where people can't interact with each other.”
Rang Mahotsava – an animated adda for artists
The fact that people are just running around from one venue to another, with no time in between for dialogue is a view that Sudhanva Deshpande, actor and director, Jana Natya Manch shares too. But there is a certain vibe to the festival in the last couple of years that is exciting, which, he picks up, was missing earlier. “A few years ago it seemed like no one cared...Sarkari paisa hai (it's government money).”
Some also feel that the sheer number of plays is a dampener for discussion and assimilation. Rustom Bharucha, director and critic, who has himself organised theatre festivals is one such person. He feels a festival is not just about watching performances. There are ways in which people can exchange views, catch up with friends, even outside the format of a seminar that is often woven into a festival. And this is possible when there is breathing space – it's possible when too many plays are not packed into a festival.
Part of this “talking space” seems to be the large tent erected within Bahawalpur House. There is informal seating; snacky food; a fire burning; and all of it is designed very well – just the right ingredients for an animated adda among artists. In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to guess that much of the buzz about the festival germinates here.
Issue Dated: Feb 5, 2017
