Bharat Rang Mahotsav to feature 4 plays on Mahatma Gandhi's life

New Delhi, Jan 29: The 20th edition of Bharat Rang Mahotsav will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with four plays on his life, philosophy, and principles.

Organised by National School of Drama (NSD), the "largest theatre festival in Asia" will begin here on February 1 with "Karanth Ke Rang", a performance directed by Amod Bhatt based on songs composed by late B V Karanth, a stalwart of Kannada and Hindi theatres.

During the 21-day theatrical extravaganza, "Bapu" by Samir Biswas, "Stay Yet a While" by M K Raina, "Satya Ke Prayog" by Devendra Raj Ankur, and "Hind Swaraj" by Arjun Deo Charan will pay tribute to the father of the nation.

The festival will host 69 Indian and 15 foreign plays in addition to nine folk productions, five plays by NSD diploma students, one production from the Sikkim center of NSD, three plays by the NSD Repertory as well as five invitee plays by eminent theatre practitioners that will captivate the theatregoers across India. The national capital will host 89 plays in Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, and Marathi among other regional languages.

The 15 international productions will include plays from countries such as Bangladesh, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic, Italy, Nepal, Romania, and Singapore.

"The art of theatre is the oldest and the strongest medium that conveys human emotions in a manner that defies temporal boundaries. We are delighted to usher in the Bharat Rang Mahotsav to its 20th year and have made all efforts to bring a selection of quality plays, choosing the best out of 960 submissions. We have tried to accommodate as many young theatre enthusiasts as we can, since the institution aims to foster the growth of young talents through the platform of BRM," Suresh Sharma, Director In-charge, NSD, said.

Apart from the performances and interactions with thespians and eminent personalities from the world of theatre, the festival in Delhi will also have two international and two national seminars on theatre.

Parallel theatre festivals will also be organised in Dibrugarh (February 4-10), Varanasi (February 7-13), Ranchi (February 9-15), Mysore (February 11-17), and Rajkot (February 13-19). The 20th Bharat Rang Mahotsav will come to a close on February 21.

PTI