Mysuru: True to the National Theatre Festival Bahuroopi, the bibliophiles are picking up a lot more books related to drama than the ones on other genre.

The Bahuroopi exhibition has three types of stalls — the food stalls, handicraft stalls and bookstalls and all of them have 12 stalls each. Majority of the booksellers said that people start visiting the exhibition only after 3 pm and the business picks up in the evenings as the footfalls increase.

When compared to last year, the business is less is the common refrain of the booksellers. Most of the booksellers have been part of the Bahuroopi for a long time.

“It is three days since the theatre festival began and we have entered the fourth day today. In the last two days, our experience has been that people walk into the exhibition only after 3 pm. Though we have kept all types of books in Kannada and English, the demand for books on drama is more,” said Chetana Book House’s Dayanand.

Navakarnataka Publications’ Suresh said that they have stocked books right from a lowly priced Rs.10 to Rs. 2,500. “It is not that everyone who comes, buys a book. However, there is good response and we see more footfalls after 4 pm. The books by Jnanpith awardees like Kuvempu, Shivaram Karanth, Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy are in great demand. Even Shakespeare’s books based on dramas are selling well,” he said.

There are even second hand books on sale at Akhila Agency, while a few others including Vismaya Prakashana, Samaikya Publications, Abhiruchi Prakashana, Sapna Book House and Kannada Pusthaka Pradihikara (Kannada Book Authority) have also set up stalls.