Know your City: Ranga Shankara keeping theatre arts alive in Bengaluru for over 20 years | Bangalore News
Know your City: Ranga Shankara keeping theatre arts alive in Bengaluru for over 20 years | Bangalore News
At a time of movies and OTT shows, there is perhaps a question mark hanging over the existence of slower, more measured forms of entertainment. But at Ranga Shankara theatre in Bengaluru’s J P Nagar, an appreciation for the dramatic arts has been going strong for over 20 years now. Behind the theatre is acclaimed actress Arundhati Nag, who along with her husband, the late actor Shankar Nag, has long been pivotal in the Bangalore theatre scene.
Recently, Arundhati Nag delivered the fourth ‘Spirit of Bangalore’ lecture on theatre at the Lady Jehangir Hall. She recalled her arrival in Bengaluru in 1979 when she had not yet learnt to speak Kannada. “Here I was, an actor who was doing 40 (theatre) shows in a month, sometimes in Bombay….of the languages I spoke, only English was performed at the time in Bangalore,” said Nag, who has gone on to perform extensively in Kannada, notably in plays written by Girish Karnad, among others.
Arundhati Nag said that, in general, Indian arts, such as dance and other performances, did not require as much backstage space. (Express photos by Jithendra M)
Speaking of the theatres available then, Nag said, “You had the Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bangalore, which is still there…..if you applied for a date there, you got one day after three months, so effectively only four shows in a year. The other theatres were not so well equipped. We went to the Gokhale Institute hall in Malleswaram and performed shows there but today Bangalore has several theatres.” Nag said that, in general, Indian arts, such as dance and other performances, did not require as much backstage space.
She said, “But we wanted a theatre dedicated to theatre performances because the requirements are very specific. You need the lights from a particular angle, and you need backstage space.”
Arundhati Nag said Shankar’s memory became a trigger for Ranga Shankara. (Express photos by Jithendra M)
Arundhati Nag said Shankar’s memory became a trigger for Ranga Shankara. “If he had (still) been there, this theatre would have been called something else,” she said. Nag recalled that many people had contributed their time and money to bring about the theatre. ” It was not a small dream. Twenty years ago, the outlay was around Rs 4 crore. It came from the people of Bangalore.”
Nag said, “This is a module that can be replicated. When we opened, we charged about Rs 2,500. For that sum, a team was given 20 lights free and 20 tonnes of air conditioning for two and a half hours, basically the electricity fee. If in the last 20 years, we have had 7,000 performances, it is because it is affordable. We need more affordable places in the city. We are still charging Rs 2,500.”
Ranga Shankara also makes its mark with the unique events it hosts every year. Among these are the Ugadi event on the Sunday closest to Ugadi and the annual “mango party”, which sees each guest bringing 1 kg of mangoes.
