NSD’s ‘Bharat Rang Mahotsav’ to begin from Jan 28 with over 200 plays

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) The National School of Drama (NSD) will be hosting its marquee event, ‘Bharat Rang Mahotsav’, with the participation of more than 200 plays from nine countries, including Russia, Italy, Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Taiwan, and Spain, the drama school’s director Chittaranjan Tripathy announced on Wednesday.

Touted to be “the world’s largest theatre festival”, ‘Bharangam’ will begin on January 28 at Kamani Auditorium here with a special ‘Rang Sangeet’ performance by the NSD Repertory Company. Actor and NSD alumni Rajpal Yadav is the ‘Rangdoot’ (ambassador) for this year’s festival.

As part of its 25 year celebration, the festival will host plays on foreign soil – in Colombo and Kathmandu – for the first time.

The celebration of theatre will also take place across the country in 11 cities, including Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bathinda, Bhopal, Goa, Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Khairagarh and Ranchi.

Speaking at a press conference at the NSD campus here, Tripathy said the drama school tries to bring together the largest number of forms of plays.

“The plays that we showcase include folk, tribal, contemporary, and in contemporary, you will see physical, verbal, non-verbal, and realistic plays. There will be musicals as well as children’s plays. We have tried to connect everyone and anyone who is related to the theatre,” he said.

The director added that the festival will host two separate production-oriented workshops with sex workers and transgender persons. The plays from these workshops will also be featured during the festival.

“There will be more than 30 street plays in Delhi alone. Apart from that anyone who is enthusiastic about the theatre can perform in front of the auditoriums before a screening. This way there will be more than 200 plays,” Tripathy said.

Apart from the plays selected by a jury of 60 theatre veterans, tributes will be paid to stalwarts like Habib Tanvir, Dharamvir Bharti, and Mohan Rakesh by staging their famous productions, including “Agra Bazar”, “Kanupriya”, and “Adhe Adhure”, respectively.

Last year, Bharat Rang Mahotsav secured a place in the World Book of Records, London for the “Largest Number of Artistic Performances on a Common Theme” by screening 1,585 plays on the closing day.

In an attempt to further the success, Bharangam will aim to secure a place in the Guinness World Records. NSD has invited theatre enthusiasts from across the world to send virtual performances of short plays.

The short plays of 5-10 minute length will be on their interpretations of the “Natya Shashtra”, the treatise on performing arts that is believed to have been written more than 3,000 years ago.

“We are trying to connect all seven continents on the relevance of ‘Natya Shashtra’, why it is called pancham ved,” Tripathy said.

The festival will also feature a parallel student-led programme, ‘Advitiya 2025’, showcasing street theatre, folk bands, open stage, and talks.

Apart from theatrical productions, Bharangam will feature director-audience dialogues, seminars, and masterclasses to explore various facets of theatre.

A dedicated programme on literary arts, ‘Shruti’, will feature book launches and discussions on literature.

The drama school has also decided to expand ‘Rang Haat’ (theatre bazaar) with a competition where the top three plays will be sent to corporates that run theatre initiatives for further investment.

The theatre festival will come to an end on February 16.