The National School of Drama’s (NSD) annual Bharat Rang Mahotsav (Bharangam) theatre festival has travelled outside India, too, this year.
In addition to parallel editions of the festival in 13 Indian cities, the 24th Bharangam will also have satellite editions in Colombo and Kathmandu. The festival, which began on Tuesday, will end on February 16. This is the first time since the Mahotsav began in 1999 that it is taking place outside India as well.
Besides New Delhi, satellite festivals would also be organised in Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhatinda, Bhopal, Panaji, Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Khairagarh and Ranchi. Plays staged at foreign venues will also be staged in India.
Among the foreign plays being staged this year is Karna from Taiwan based on the Mahabharata. Directed by Indian director Chongtham Jayanta Meetei, the play blends traditional Chinese and Indian artistry and dance forms to reinterpret the character of Karna.
Meetei, who is based in Taiwan’s Miaoli City, told The Telegraph that the actors will speak in Mandarin and Hindi, and English subtitles will be projected on stage. The play has actors from India and Taiwan.
“We have incorporated different forms for different characters like Kuchipudi for Kunti, Yakshagana for Surya Devta, Chhau and Nautanki for Karna, and Kun Opera for Taiwanese actors. In addition to that it explored a theatrical fusion music together with Hindustani sangeet and traditional opera music,” Meetei said.
Karna, written by Himanshu B. Joshi, premiered at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival in 2023. It will be staged in Delhi on February 11 and Jaipur on February 13.
“All the Indian artistes, together with the Taiwanese artistes, rehearsed for two months in Taiwan and created the show. This year, Taiwan’s minister of culture sanctioned a grant to participate in Bharangam…. I have selected contemporary professional actors from India who had a background training in the traditional art form and did a one-week exchange workshop with Taiwanese traditional artistes before going to the rehearsal,” he added.
Besides Karna, more than 200 plays from Russia, Italy, Germany, Norway, the Czech Republic, Nepal, Spain, Sri Lanka and India will be staged. As part of the Vishwa Jan Rang initiative, several short plays by NRIs will be staged live virtually on a portal during the festival.
NSD director Chittaranjan Tripathy said that these performances would take place for 24 hours on a single day and be projected on a screen at the venues. He said: “Short plays of around 10 minutes on themes such as Bharat Muni’s Natya Shastra will be screened on this virtual portal.”
Advitiya 2025, a parallel festival led by NSD students, will feature street plays, folk bands, talks and an open stage for performers. Actor and NSD alumnus Rajpal Yadav is the Rang Doot (Festival Ambassador) of the year.
The NSD entered the World of Book Records-London for the “largest number of artistic performances on a common theme” with the Jan Bharat Rang project last year. This year, they are aiming for the Guinness World Records for “largest theatre festival plays”.