South Indian theatre fest begins

‘Dakshina Bharatha Rangotsava’, a 10-day theatre festival, organised by the National School of Drama (NSD) Bengaluru Centre, in collaboration with the Department of Kannada and Culture and Government of Karnataka, started in the city on Wednesday evening.

Basavalingaiah C, camp director of NSD Bengaluru Centre, said, “The idea is to encourage the different theatre groups across the country to stage their productions and expose the audience to a variety of plays, with an emphasis on those from Southern states and languages.”

Playwright Girish Karnad, who inaugurated the event, stated, “It’s marvellous that the whole of South India is being represented in this theatre festival. Bengaluru is becoming a centre of good theatre and that too, of various kinds. NSD should come up with more such chapters.” The Bengaluru Centre of NSD came into existence last year.

The 10-day festival, being held at Gurunanak Bhavan, Vasanthnagar, will feature a plethora of plays to charm theatre lovers and audiences across the city. The first play to be staged on Wednesday evening was ‘Mohe Piya’ in Hindi by theatre group Rangpeeth from Mumbai and directed by Waman Kendre.

‘Mohe Piya’ is an adaptation of the play Madhyam Vyayog by Bhasa and revolves around Bhima, Ghatotkacha, Hidimba and a Brahmin family. Originally written in Sanskrit, the play was beautifully presented in Hindi and received much applause from the crowd.

The other plays that will be staged in the festival include ‘Taoos Chaman Ki Myna’ (Hindi), ‘Tukke Pe Tukka’ (Hindi), ‘Tamaasha’ (Kannada), ‘Chatushkon’ (Hindi), ‘Agamana’ (Kannada), ‘Kuthirai Muttai’ (Tamil), ‘Nayakuralu Nagamma’ (Telugu), ‘Mukhyamantri’ (Kannada) and ‘Charithrapusthakathil-ekkuoredu (Malayalam). It will conclude on April 29. Minister of Kannada and Culture Umashree and critic K Marulasiddappa were present.