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A little low under the BIG TOP
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Where does an entertainment medium like the circus figure in today's culture of instant nirvana? HARIPRIYA SRINIVASAN strolls through the tents of The Great Royal Circus
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A hard act to follow — Photos: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
WHO CAN forget the poignant "Jeena yahaan, marna yahaan, iske sivaa, jaana kahaan," from Raj Kapoor's straight-from-the-heart offering, Mera Naam Joker? While the protagonist plays a circus clown in the film, the song captures the essence of human life.
"It is truly a way of life," insists the middle-aged Premnath, one of the movers and shakers of The Great Royal Circus, founded in 1908, currently performing in the city. Clearly, circus is his life as he found the time to marry only three months ago.
His father was a circus artiste as well. "The golden period is over," he sighs, and recalls with pride accompanying his father who was touring with the legendary Kamala Three Rings Circus. Elaborate sets and costumes were used to depict scenes from the Mahabharata. Kamala Three Rings Circus had acquired 20 real chariots from the Nizam for this purpose, not to forget the 40 elephants and 100 horses that accompanied the entourage.
Though circus dates back to thousands of years, there is a debate on its origins — no one is sure if the land of its birth was China or India. There are references to acrobatic acts performed on ropes tied between the two temple gopurams in second century Tamil epic Silapathikaram, authored by prince-turned-bard Elangovadigal.
Vishnu Pant Chatre, a horse trainer with the Maharajah of Kuruwadan, Maharashtra, founded the first modern Indian circus in 1880. Any article on circus necessitates the mention of Thalasseri, a small town in Cannanore district, Kerala, instrumental in the renaissance of the Indian circus. Both Gemini Circus and The Great Bombay Circus originated from here, all because of a gentleman named Keelari Kunhikannan. He took over Chatre mantle and founded a circus school where he trained some of India's renowned performers. In fact Kannan Bombayo, an artiste from Tellicherry, impressed none other than Adolf Hiter with his acrobatic skills when he performed in Berlin to international acclaim.
All of us recall going en famille to the circus as children. My childhood memories came flooding back watching an evening show of The Great Royal Circus last week. Everything was familiar — the last act I saw was a couple of decades ago — the trapeze, roaring motorbikes, clowns, jugglers, and the acrobats; however, there were no star animals.
A ban on animals in circus shows was effected in 1999 by the Government. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Wildlife Protection Act prohibit tigers, lions, panthers, monkeys, and bears in circuses.
This is a sore point with Ashok Shankar, the affable President of the Circus Owners' Federation. "What about our audience, especially those from lower sections of India who get to see the real animals like tigers, lions and chimpanzees only in a circus?" Tricks performed by these animals have always been major crowd-pullers. Circuses without these are a cake without the icing, sorely missed by both the management and the audience.
"Why is the Government not taking care of poaching and animal slaughter instead?" demands an indignant Premnath. Pointing to his 84-year-old elephant, he adds: "Well, isn't it proof that we care for our animals?"
"People used to look forward to a circus like a carnival and it has certainly lost much of the charm," points out Ashok. "Children will always love a circus and they will always be there," he states to my remark on how much youngsters love the show. "It is sad when adults come in with hankies on their noses: they cannot bear the smell of animals and we cannot do much about that," he says wistfully.
Warming to the subject, he says that most people nowadays prefer to experience a reserved seat and an A/C auditorium. "Circuses all over India are closing down and only two weeks ago, a 50-year-old circus, The New Grand Circus, in Shimoga, closed down," he says. At present there are only 10 or 15 circus shows in the country.
According to P. Vinod, a renowned trapeze artist, also known as "Catcher Vinod" the future looks bleak. "The public is not interested and they will be bored as there are no animals," he says sadly.
For Lakshmi from Nepal and Mittoo from Bengal, the camaraderie and love in the circus family make it worthwhile. While not performing or training, the girls go for movies, learn to sew, or read books in their worn-out tents. My stroll around the various tents where acrobats practised their jumps, elephants played with each other, and clowns were doing their washing proved to be a reality check. These are people who struggle so hard to make us smile, But what about their future?
Says Ashok: "First of all, the Government must provide us with large, centrally-located spaces so we can get our act together and be accessible to the public." He hopes the Government will make their lives easier by doing away with red tape and grant concessions on power and rent.
While there is a ban on traditional forms of advertising like posters, he points out, that their limited budget does not allow for any other form of publicity, that too in a world of in-your-face advertising.
He confesses that while the passion is missing in the modern artistes, they are not to blame either. Despite all the hard work, they take home a pittance as pay. He reiterates the need to start a national institute to train Indian artistes, like their Western counterparts.
"Most artistes come here when they are young and I think formal education must be provided so that they have other options when they grow up." With some effort, it is still possible to mould youngsters into world-class performers, he believes. "Indian performers in the past have done it, there is no reason why we cannot do it again."
The Great Royal Circus has pitched its tent at the Palace Grounds, opposite the TV Tower.
The performances are at 1, 4, and 7 p.m.. Tickets are priced at Rs.20, Rs.40, Rs.60, and Rs.100.
Advance booking for the Rs.60 and Rs.100 seats can be made between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Call 57601557 for more details.
All in the family
The Uzbek artistes are here under an exchange programme, and are enjoying it.
THERE IS a group of foreigners touring with the circus. The team of eight members hails from a circus in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The talented family of Valyera, wife Rimma, their 12-year-old-daughter Yanna and six-year-old son Tihon wowed Bangalore with some scintillating acrobatics. It was a treat to watch them perform together.
Sisters Zarina and Rasina have taken to the Indian environs rather well.
The Uzbeks, who are a hit with the audiences, are here under a six-month cultural exchange program. "We like the Indian circus a lot and enjoy interacting with Indian professionals," said Valyera.
Of course, nearly all of them want to see the Taj Mahal before they bid adieu to India.
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