Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2016 to stage 80 plays, 1 from Pakistan

Theatre veteran Ratan Thiyam's Manipuri play "Macbeth" will open the 18th Bharat Rang Mahostav, National School of Drama's annual theatre extravaganza, where 15 international and 65 Indian plays will be staged.
Veteran Bollywood actor Nana Patekar will be the guest of honour.
With the theme of "Rediscovering the magic of theatre", the 21-day-long festival, which begins from Feb 1, has introduced a theatre bazaar and master class from veteran thespians.
"Bharat Rang Mahostav is a prestigious theatre festival and this year we received 469 entries. We have selected plays keeping in mind the variations of theatre forms and styles with major focus on quality," NSD director Waman Kendre said here.

International countries include China, USA, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, Austria and Italy. There is also a Pakistani play this year.
"Two Pakistani plays were supposed to be staged here but yesterday we got to know that only one play will take place. Pakistan's National Academy of Performing Arts has informed us that the other troupe won't be able to make it as they have not got sponsers," Kendre said.

The theatre festival will also pay tribute to Professor S Ramanujan in the form of a Tamil play "Pethannasami Thalattu", a documentary and exhibition based on his work.
In an effort to highlight the relevant issues, the festival this year will incorporate seminars on diverse topics such as "Rediscovering the Magic of Theatre", "Today in Today's Theatre" and "Emerging trends in Indian Theatre" by eminent personalities such as Ranjit Kapoor, Mohan Agashe, Ram Gopal Bajaj, Sunil Shanbag, Sadanand Menon and Nand Kishore Acharya, Kanhaiya Lal, Daulat Vaidand many more.

Several performances such as folk arts, master classes, Living Legend series are also scheduled to add to the entertainment at the festival.
Kapila Vatsayayan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Sonal Mansingh, Indira Parathasarathy, Jabbar Patel, and Patekar will feature in the Living Legend Series.
In the theatre bazar, products related to theatre will be showcased such as handicrafts, theatre lights, theatre books, musical instruments, madhubani paintings, and mask making artists. A food hub with authentic and traditional cuisines from across the country will also be there.
A special performance of theatre music by NSD Repertory Company will bring the curtains down on February 21.

In a bid to promote theatre in other parts of the country, Bharat Rang Mahotsav will also be held in Jammu, Ahmedabad Thiruvananthapuram and Bhubaneswar.
The organisers are planning to put the opening ceremony and allied activities online.