Ranchi selected as outstation venue for NSD’s Bharat Rang Mahotsav

Ranchi: THE CAPITAL CITY HAS BEEN SELECTED AS ONE OF THE OUTSTATION PARALLEL VENUES FOR THIS YEAR’S EDITION OF BHARAT RANG MAHOTSAV (BRM), the ongoing annual theatre festival of the National School of Drama (NSD.
Talking to TOI, Ajay Malkani, a former NSD graduate and one of the organisers of the Ranchi event said: “This is the first time in the two-decade-long history of BRM that Jharkhand will be hosting one of the outstation festivals.Seven plays of the festival will be staged in Ranchi at Aryabhatta Auditorium along with performances of local artistes. Since this theatre festival is one-of-its-kind national platform, Paika, Jhumar and other local dance forms of Jharkhand will also be showcased during the festival.”
The festival which began from from the first of this month will continue till February 21 and the local leg of the event will begin from February 9 and continue for a week till February 15. Apart from Ranchi, NSD has also announced four other outstation locations for the parallel BRM at Dibrugarh, Varanasi, Mysore and Rajkot. These cities will also simultaneously host the ongoing festival.
The 20th edition of BRM has more in store for Jharkhand as a 16-member team of Yuva Rangmanch, a city-based theatre group, has been selected from the state to perform at the main event in New Delhi. Malkani, who also features in ‘Pagla Ghoda’, a play written by Badal Sarkar, said: “There is just one official selection from Jharkhand at the BRM, which is a great news for theatre enthusiasts of the state as they are finally making a mark in the national circles.” The plays to be screened in Ranchi-edition of BRM include two international productions — ‘Three Sisters’, directed by Rose Schwietz of Nepal and ‘Macbeth’, directed by Israfail Shaheen of Bangladesh.
Amitesh Grover, assistant professor at NSD, New Delhi, who was here to announce the festival in Ranchi, said: “Over the years, BRM has presented a critical analysis of the theatre forms across the world. This edition will be a chance for actors, directors and other theatre enthusiasts to interact with each other and learn about theatre as an art form.”