MYSURU: Theatre has evolved over time, perfecting the way it reflects the stories of society. It is a foremost artistic indulgence known to humankind since civilisation. In India, theatre is as vibrant as the country itself, and acts as a window to the ethos and culture of the land. Taking a step further and bringing a synthesis between people, a 30-year-old man from Mysuru is introducing urban theatre to tribal haadis or hamlets, and inculcating the art form among the children there.
Vikas Chandra founded the theatre group, ‘Rangayaana’, in 2014 with the sole aim of imparting acting and theatre skills among tribal and rural folk. It was a chance awakening in Chandra, who as a highschooler, watched the shooting of a sequence of a Kannada film legend Vishnuvardhan-starrer, Vishnu Sene, near his house. Fascinated, Chandra inquired with one of the junior artistes about getting a break in cinema. He was advised that by joining theatre training school ‘Kalamandira’, he stood a chance at the movies.
Lacking any knowledge about theatre, Chandra enrolled himself at Kalamandira and later joined the Bharatiya Ranga Shikshana Kendra. After passing out in 2009, he worked in various theatre troupes for five years. It was in 2014 that he decided to venture out on his own, and founded Rangayaana with a few of his associates, who had worked with him at Rangayana (a government initiative; not to be confused with Rangayaana) and Neenasam groups. Though there were various activities going on with Rangayana and other theatre groups, they were often limited to cities, and rarely made it out even to the taluks.
Intending to take the theatre far and beyond, Chandra approached then Department of Kannada and Culture Assistant Director Channappa, who encouraged him to introduce the art among rural children. From there, Chandra’s work took off, and he began working with Adivasi children, guiding them in the various nuances of acting and other aspects of theatre.
The initial days were challenging. “It was quite a task to train these children. During rehearsals, they would escape from the school where we trained them. They would jump over walls and run towards the forest. As we had taken permission from the concerned departments, it was our responsibility to look after them till the day’s practice ended. We used to run after them in the forest. On several such chases, children would offer us fruits growing in the forest, which we had never seen before. The children know each and every fruit in the forest and their properties,” he says.
He took up his first assignment of training tribal children studying at Ashrama Shaale at DB Kuppe in HD Kote taluk along the Karnataka-Kerala border. “It was the first time that we were working with tribal children, but we have been successful in training them. During the 15-day ‘Ranga Shibira’, we trained children to play Kuvempu’s Kindhara Jogi. As the area is close to Kerala and the people there have better access to the neighbouring state, than HD Kote, the children here speak Malayalam. It took us a while to make them understand the Kannada dialect we are familiar with in Mysuru. They found it tough to memorise dialogues in Kannada and flawlessly deliver them on stage. But we managed, and the children gave a wonderful performance. Channappa was also happy with our efforts and offered us a few more programmes from the department,” Chandra says.
The camp had 85 tribal children participating. Forty of them were trained in theatre, 35 in folk dance, and the remaining in kamsale (a brass-made musical instrument). The children were also taught drawing and painting.
After the successful completion of the camp at DB Kuppe, Chandra and his team visited Jakkalli Haadi in HD Kote, Shettihalli Haadi in Hunsur, Haavinamoole Haadi in Hanur taluk, and other tribal haadis in BR Hills in Chamarajanagar district. In several haadis, including Havinamoole, the troupe used firewood for lighting, and made the children enact plays like Bommanahalli Kindrajogi, Mruga Mathu Sundari, and Appa Barthane Hushar, among others. In some plays, local tribal musicians were made to play traditional musical instruments. Chandra says that since most of the tribal community members go to work in coffee estates nearby, the plays are performed in the evening or during nights, after they return to their haadis.
TOWARDS A GREATER GOOD
Chandra’s aim to introduce theatre among Adivasi children is to build good qualities in them through which they can be brought into the mainstream. Through theatre, children are able to learn language and also develop confidence in speaking. He believes that theatre is not limited to just cities and towns. While the majority of his theatre activities are in tribal areas, the troupe also holds regular performances in cities. Today, Rangayaana is staging plays in various settings, including in front of staffers of industries and the IT sector, reflecting his noble thought to bring people together on one stage.
Theatre training for girls
Rangayaana has trained girl children of Shakti Dhama, an NGO run by Kannada matinee idol Dr Rajkumar’s family, for three years. Here, the children have performed plays such as Alilu Ramayana and Panjara Shaale. More than 100 girls from Shakti Dhama performed a 39-minute dance drama during the 2018 Dasara celebrations on the premises of Mysuru Palace. The troupe is also training students of Mahajana College to play ‘Soligara Baale’, penned by Sujatha Hakki. The play includes 25 folk songs, and music compositions and renditioning by the students. The troupe is planning to take the show to villages across Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts.
A diverse cast
The children who have come under the guidance of Vikas Chandra and his team belong to several tribes. In HD Kote and Sargur taluks of Mysuru district, children are from the Kadu Kuruba and Betta Kuruba tribes, while in MM Hills and Biligirirangana Hills in Chamarajanagar District, children from the Soliga tribe are part of Rangayaana.