Five-day Niranthara Ranga Utsava held

Mysore/Mysuru: Actor-turned-MLC and former Minister Umashree assured to draw the attention of Government, especially Kannada and Culture Minister, towards encouraging the field of theatre.

She was speaking during the valedictory of Niranthara Ranga Utsava, organised by Nirantara Foundation at Mini Theatre in Kalamandira here yesterday.

Being an artiste, Umashree said “It’s painful to hear that the field of theatre, theatre persons and theatre troupes did not get due encouragement in the last five years. For theatre related activities to remain creative and active, the co-operation of Government is vital. We should encourage to strengthen them with funds to stay afloat.  I will request Kannada and Culture Minister in this regard.”

“When I was the Kannada and Culture Minister, the rent of all Rangamandiras (Theatre auditoriums) in the State was slashed in the range of Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,000 which remained the same for five years, till there was a change in situation for worse like earlier. The auditoriums are not built for making business, but to facilitate the staging of children’s dramas and plays by repertories. The hike in rent will have a drastic effect on theatre-related activities,” rued Umashree.

There is no dearth of theatre activities in Mysuru that is synonymous with culture, playing host to top writers, artistes and also repertories. The children should also be provided an opportunity to be a part of theatre, through which they will evolve as a social animal. They can emote their feelings without any inhibition. Hence the children should be encouraged to imbibe culture and the family of artistes having theatre background should focus on building next generation artistes, said Umashree in her call to the gathering.

Folk scholar Prof. H.S. Ramachandregowda said “The medium of art enjoys freedom and hence it is impossible to run behind the Government always. But still, the field of art needs encouragement by the Government and the elected representatives should focus on these lines.”

MSIL-Bengaluru Marketing Manager Chandrappa, Suguna and Srinivas Palahalli of Nirantara were also present.

Artistes of Aatamata Theatre Troupe from Dharwad staged the  play ‘Na Rajaguru’, marking the valedictory of five-day Niranthara Ranga Utsava. Laya Vadya was performed by artistes of Rythm Adda, with Srikanta Swamy on drums, Munna on guitar, Anush Shetty on tabla and Krishna Chaitanya on chande.