The Grand Circus of Bombay, one of the largest and oldest in India, had planned mega celebrations in October to mark its centenary this year. With no submissions in the past seven months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he finds himself walking a tightrope to survive.
“We are working hard to save the circus; in fact, not just us, the pandemic has dealt a body blow to most circuses, who were struggling to stay afloat even before the pandemic, ”says KM Sanjeev, partner at Great Bombay Circus.
India’s two dozen circuses large and small (there were once over 300) are fighting off the deadly pathogen, and have survived so far on donations; some, like Rambo, have even tried to go digital. “Can you imagine what it’s like to feed a 150-member family when your income suddenly drops to zero? I had to sell my property to save the circus. When the closure was announced, we never thought the crisis would last that long, ”says Raju Pehalwan, owner of Asiad Circus, which began in the late 1980s.
In October each year, his circus sets up tents in Delhi, performing in venues such as Dwarka, Rohini, Pitampura, Janakpuri. The circus was in Indore when the lockdown occurred and has remained trapped there while many artists have left for their places of origin.
The Great Bombay Circus was going to travel to Delhi, where it has been performing regularly at venues such as Peeragarhi, Rajouri Garden and Karkardooma, in December. It was at Mannargudi in Tamil Nadu that the closure happened, and he has been stuck there since March.
Sanjeev says it takes nearly 1 lakh rupees every day to run the circus, including the performers’ salaries, food, land rent, electricity and water bills. In the first months of the confinement, some 200 circus workers, including 134 performers, survived thanks to donations of rice, dal and vegetables from the locals. In late April, the circus ran a campaign on Milaap, a crowdfunding platform, which managed to raise more than 53 lakh rupees. “He helped us pay a small part of their (artists) salaries so that they could take care of their families in different parts of the country. The funds also helped us to organize the travel expenses of our foreign artists so that they could return home as they have been stuck in India since March, ”said Sanjeev.
Most circus performers earn Rs 15,000-20,000 a month and spend their entire lives at the fair. For example, 54-year-old Tulsidas Chaudhry, who plays a clown, has been working at the Great Bombay Circus for the past few years.
“My fellow artists said that I’m older and that I should go home until things get better and the circus restarts. People like me who play those characters (clowns) only face contempt beyond the circus tents, ”says Chaudhry, who was making around ₹ 15,000 a month before closing. He returned to his village in Bihar last month. His circus company, he says, has been generous, giving him half his salary all these months. “It’s easier to make people cry than to laugh and I want to keep making people laugh until my last breath. I just hope I can get back in the ring soon, ”said Chaudhry, who speaks Malayalam, Tamil, Assamese, Bengali and Hindi.
“Most of the older circus performers can speak many Indian languages fluently. This is because the circus has people from all over the country, who live together as one big family. We are deeply concerned about our future in the post-Covid world. “
While circus owners like Pehalwan say the circus’ decline began with the ban on animals in 1998, many believe that the Indian circus has not reinvented itself and the Covid crisis will force them to change. A three-hour show offers the same old fare: gymnastics, juggling, acrobatics, and flying trapeze acts unlike their foreign counterparts, who have introduced new technologies, side shows, and new concepts like theatrical and narrative circus. Most circuses abroad depend on human performance rather than animals.
“Circuses in India have tried to modernize; they have introduced international artists and new acts. But running the circus at the current size and scale is not sustainable. Circuses will have to be compact with smaller tents, shorter shows and better infrastructure, ”said Vipin Nair, a Supreme Court attorney who is a member and legal adviser of the Delhi-based CFS (Circus Fans Association). .
Delhi is also home to the Indian Circus Federation, whose declining membership, from 25 to five in the past five years, reflects India’s declining circus fortunes.
“This is a traditional industry. The Indian circus needs to reinvent itself both in terms of the content of the show, the infrastructure and also how it is marketed to the new generation. The Covid-19 pandemic has opened them up to change, ”said Aditya Shah, whose family has been in the circus management business, providing logistics, advertising and finance, and serving some of the largest circus companies in the world. India for the past 70 years.
“In fact, we are already working with some circuses to modernize the interiors and seats and help them adopt digital marketing,” he added.
Rambo Circus has taken a digital route to remain relevant during the pandemic. In August, he worked with an event management company and a production house to film trapeze acts, stunts within the circus, also weaving the story of the lives, achievements and struggles of the artists, who rehearsed for three weeks to perform the actions. look spectacular on screen.
In September, the tickets for the virtual Life is a circuits were sold on BookMyShow. “We managed to sell around 21,000 tickets. The next digital show is in November, ”said Sujit Dilip, the owner of the circus. “But I know that a live circus is something real; The digital circus can only be a temporary measure to survive. Most of those who bought tickets were young people who had never been to the circus. I’m sure our digital shows will eventually help attract new audiences to the circus when we reopen. ”
Artists say that the digital circus is not what excites them.
“As a performing artist, I love and live the applause of the audience. I have a feeling that the circus will not survive more than five years. Covid-19 has only accelerated his death. But unlike me, who have agricultural land and can farm, most have nothing to lean on, “said Raju Barde, a 40-year-old flying aerialist who has been in the circus for the past 25 years.
Biju Pushkaran, 51, a famous circus clown, has similar views. “What excites me are the hugs from the children in the audience. They take selfies with me. It’s this adulation that kept me going all these years. ”In fact, it was his video, a plea for help recorded in April during the running of the bulls, that sparked a great deal of support for the circus, helping it raise donations of more from ₹ 12 lakh on Ketto, a crowdfunding platform.
“We make the world laugh, today I am before you crying,” Pushkaran said in his video asking for help. “Jeena yahan marna yahan”.
.
