The most-awaited theatre festival of Mysuru is back, bringing well-known productions to perform before the city’s theatre enthusiasts.
Rangayana’s national theatre festival — Bahuroopi — will unfold in the decked-up premises of the repertory on Friday. What is special this year is the festival theme of Gandhi Path, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations. The festival will bring to light the life and times of the Mahatma in various forms, including– plays, bhajans, photographs, and symposiums.
The six-day Bahuroopi-2020, the 20th in the series, will be a platform for multilingual plays, a photography expo, a national symposium on his thoughts and life, a film festival, the recital of bhajans, a poetry recitation (Gandhi through a poet’s eye), theatre music and folk performances, street plays, Yakshagana performances, leather puppetry, a book and handicrafts expo, and demonstration of indigenous crafts and desi food in indigenous food huts.
Actor and theatre personality Anant Nag will give a grand start to the festival at Vanaranga at 6 p.m. on Friday. Minister for Kannada and Culture C.T. Ravi will release a souvenir, while district in-charge Minister V. Somanna will inaugurate the handicrafts expo. The inaugural session will be followed by the recital of Gandhi bhajans by singer Sangeetha Katti at 7 p.m.. A Kannada play directed by Chidambara Rao Jambe, Bendakalu on Toast, will be staged at 7.30 p.m.
In total, 21 plays, including 10 in Kannada, will be staged at various venues in the city — Bhoomigeetha, Vanaranga, Kalamandira, and Kiru Rangamandira — from 6 p.m. onwards. The play Mukhyamantri is among the Kannada plays.
Another highlight this year will be ‘Kavi Kanda Gandhi’, a recitation of poems written by many noted Kannada writers, at 4 p.m. at Tejaswi Kavikatte, on the Rangayana premises, on February 18 and 19.
Suchitra Art Gallery at Kalamandira will feature a photography expo on Mahatma Gandhi, put together by Gandhi Bhavan, Bengaluru. The rare photos will cover Gandhiji’s childhood to his last days. They will be on display till the conclusion of the festival.
Film festival
Film-maker Girish Kasaravalli will inaugurate the film festival at 11 a.m. on Friday. It will feature seven films and 10 documentaries, which will be screened at Sriranga. The show timings are from 10.30 a.m. to noon; noon to 1.30 p.m.; and 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Among the films to be screened are the 1982 film Gandhi by Richard Attenborough.
The other films listed for screening are Mahatma–the Life of Gandhi, Gandhi: The Road to Freedom, Gandhi–The Rise to Fame, and Gandhi, My Father. The Kannada film Kurmaavatara will also be screened. Lage Raho Munna Bhai, the Rajkumar Hirani film that portrays the importance of following Gandhi’s principles, will also be screened.
Poet Siddalingaiah will be the chief guest at the national symposium schduled for February 16 and 17 at Kiru Rangamandira. Writer Lakshmisha Tholpadi will deliver the keynote address at 10.30 a.m.
To make the festival “plastic-free”, the organisers have made efforts to shun plastic bottles inside the venue and have also avoided the use of plastics in posters, banners and other publicity materials.
For foodies, there is something to look forward as desi food will be offered from various regions of the State. Food stalls are among the key attractions, besides the book and handicraft stalls. Food items from Malnad, Kodagu, north Karnataka and Kalyana Karnataka are expected to attract visitors.
Tickets are priced at ₹100 and will be available at the counters on Rangayana premises daily. They can also be booked online on www.rangayana.org.