The annual theatre festival, that will open with veteran actor-director Amol Palekar’s KUSUR, will showcase a mix of Indian and international plays

New Delhi, February 1: The 21^st edition of the Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) – the annual theatre festival organised by the National School of Drama (NSD) is all set to bring an assortment of plays, interactive sessions, and other cultural events to cheer up winter afternoons of theatre enthusiasts in the Capital.

The inaugural function for BRM 2020 kick started at the Kamani auditorium with Panchvadyam — a South Indian devotional music. The dignitaries present on the occasion included Chief Guest Prof. Vidushi Rita Ganguly, eminent theatre artist and vocalist, Guest of Honour Dr. Mohan Agashe, renowned theatre and film personality and Special Guest Ms. Nirupama Kotru, IRS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India among others. The function was presided over by Dr. Arjun Deo Charan, Acting Chairman, NSD Society.

Prof. Suresh Sharma, Director In-charge, National School of Drama, welcomed the guest at the inaugural function and appreciated all the participants from National & International theatre fraternity who came all across. Also, he specially expressed his gratitude to the Actor Amol Palekar who came & graced the occasion by presenting his play at the inauguration ceremony. He also said through the years, Bharat Rang Mahotsav has presented some masterpieces from the world of theatre. The idea is to reach out to a much wider set of audiences with works from post-modern and regional theatre. We hope to highlight the importance of theatre and plays and promote the culture of appreciating various forms of performing arts.

Chief Guest Prof. Vidushi Rita Ganguly, present at the event said “Eventual expression of human race is theatre, I give credit to all these honours that I receive to Ebrahim Alkazi. NSD treats everyone equally and in theatre everyone has their own place.”

Guest of Honour Dr. Mohan Agashe, renowned theatre and film personality who was present at the event said “theatre occupies the highest place in art forms. I am really elated to see that year after year NSD is giving this living art a stage.”

Present at the event the Special Guest Ms. Nirupama Kotru, IRS, Joint Secretary, and Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India Said “NSD is one of the nine gems that we have in our country. We should encourage more participation and spectatorship of theatre.”

Echoing his thoughts, Dr. Arjun Deo Charan, Acting Chairman, NSD Society said, “Theatre brings meaning to people and the position of an actor is held highly in theatre of our country. An actor should be mindful of their own emotions and the emotions of their character and this understanding if conceived can help anyone and everyone.”

Like each year, this year too, BRM promises a diverse experience featuring a host of plays depicting various shades of emotions along with masterclasses by stalwarts from the theatre fraternity. The festival will stage 91 plays that include a combination of post-modern and regional theatre by Indian and international thespians. It will open with veteran theatre and film personality Amol Palekar’s crime-drama Kusur – The Mistake that revolves around the life of retired Assistant Police Commissioner Dandavate, whose life changes overnight when he volunteers to serve at the police control room. Besides, the festival will also showcase a mix of romance, suspense, comedy and music along with international plays, interactive sessions and allied events.

This play is being presented as a part of National School of Drama’s graduate showcase (class of 2018), which aims to provide a platform for emerging theatre practitioners, allowing them to share their work with a wider audience.

Sikkim Theatre Training Centre is the first centre of the National School of Drama outside Delhi established in the year 2011. Situated in the lush green picturesque valley of Gangtok, the centre offers a year-long extensive training in theatre. In 2012, the centre started its Repertory Company in which students from the previous year’s training program are selected as artists.

The Play

Ab aur Nahi has been inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The play begins with a fight between Wi-fi and Hi-fi gangs. They are always fighting for their land, their existence and their identity with each other. Finally, Blue Ray explains to both the gangs that what they have been doing all these years is futile. The gangs realize that fights, hatred, ego is all meaningless and worthless. At last, in this play, Time unites everyone.

Director’s Note

In the 21st century, which celebrates Globalization, people have been given the choice to live in a boundary-less world. Yet they are divided by insignificant aspects of religion, culture and community. The futile argument over the superiority of a certain community or caste over the other, has led to a huge setback on the overall development of the nations and humans. It has been the most detrimental to the youth of this world. The youth is equipped with a lot of potential to achieve greater goals, but is held back due to the myopic mind-set and cultural barriers instilled since childhood. It is hoped that it would eventually realise the impediments caused by these petty issues, and approach it in a more radical manner to achieve higher goals.

The Director

The Group

Sikkim Theatre Training Centre is the first centre of the National School of Drama outside Delhi. Situated in the lush green picturesque valley of Gangtok, the centre offers one –year of extensive training in theatre. The first phase of the course is devoted to training and grooming of the participants. The second phase focuses on technical training, Set design, Lighting, Make-up and other aspects of theatre. In the third phase, the participants experience a series of professional tours in and around Sikkim and other places of India.

Orkut  Lapchen Lepcha Hacker  Bikram Lepcha Format  Hasta Chettri Blue Ray  Ranjana Manger Julie  Tila Rupa Sapkota/Chandrika Chettri Search Engine  Nitlesh Chhetri Torrent  Prem Kumar Pradhan Dongle  Uttam Gurung LCD  Tashi Lepcha Floppy  Birbal Subba

Xender	Buddhiman Rai
Instagram	Anil Kumar Manger
Pintrest	Satyam Gurung
Linkdin	Suman Rai
Samay	Deepjyoti Kalita, Ripam Bhardwaj
Mannequin	Balsrame A. Sagma, Indira Devi
Aerial Dancers	Buddhiman Rai, Prem Kumar Pradhan, Satyam Gurung
Costume Design	Dipankar Paul
Assistant	Anil Kr. Manger
Light re-design	Himanshu B. Joshi

Assistant	Chakra Bdr. Chettri
Lyrics	Kajol Ghosh
Background Music	Nilotpal Bora
Music Operator	Umesh Thapa
Assistant	Uttam Gurung
Singers	Uttam Gurung, Birbal Subba, Remanti Rai, Nikita Century
Set Design	Dipankar Paul
Assistant	Chakra Bdr. Chettri, Nitlesh Chhetri, Tashi Lepcha
Set (Art Work)	Dhiraj Pradhan
Sisir Thapa

Nepali Translation	Hasta Chettri
Hasta Chettri, Bikram Lepcha
Translation English	Gyurmila Bhutia, Dorjee Ghumpu Bhutia.
Props Making	Jeewan Limboo
Assistant	Prem Kumar Pradhan, Buddhiman Rai, Satyam Gurung
Choreography	Kishore Sharma
Assistant	Chandrika Chettri
Aerial	Deb Kumar Paul
Make-up	Sanjoy Samanta
Assistant	Ranjana Manger, Hasta Chettri

Assistant Director	Pabitra Kumari Gautam
Writer	Asif Ali Haider Khan
Bipin Kumar

Bharat Rang Mahotsav was established a decade ago by the National School of Drama to stimulate the growth and development of theatre across the country. Originally a national festival showcasing the work of the most creative theatre workers in India, it has evolved to international scope, hosting theatre companies from around the world, and is now the largest theatre festival of Asia. The 17th Mahotsav included several national and international performances, and various associated events in a wrap-around program.

Click here for the list of plays.