Ranga Shankara : Wher the Connoisseur cometh alive.....

I teamed up with Luke and Avinash to go to "Ranga Shankar" a Theatre in the heart of JP Nagar today. I was bit skeptical about the innards of the theatre(never having been to any art theatres before).

But what came out eventually was a Complete Revelation!!

We bought the tickets for the show which was slated from 7 to 9 pm and was a Ugadi special.

Once inside we sat very close to the stage. It was very silly of me to think that the sound systems would be jarring and we would have a touch time hearing the Act if we sit on the edge.

The usual request to switch of mobiles was made. I had done that already...

The first act was by Umesh Nayak from Hubli who was playing the part of the Legendary Da Ra Bendre...

When He started off in Dharwad kannada I was in splits. I could identify with the Language the tone and the Slangs like the back of my hand. I then started realising the genius that Bendre was. Having never studied kannada medium I cannot immediately understand kannada prose n poetry. but this time it was different.

Bendre's language is so simple and yet so poetic, that satire hides in his every line. Later on my dad told me that Bendre used to roam the city streets of dharwad and had seen life@dharwad in close quarters. During the first Mono-Act Play I suddenly felt uprooted from my place and placed @ the watch tower in Dharwad.

Overall I am still spellbound by the Show, the actor and the playwright.

The Next event was a hilarious act by Master Hiranniah and his son junior Hiranniah. These two were so amazing that it never appeared for an instant that they were father-son duo.

Alls well that ends well. The ending was a song sung by a unknown theatre persona. She was joined by the back stage people. So it was a very good ending.

Finally the Modest and simple Arundhati Nag introduced us to the star cast. And the importance of the event Ugadi. She has done a yeoman service to all the Connoisseurs in Bangalore city by starting Ranga Shankara.

I look forward to many more such events where I can whet the appetite of the Connoissuer in me. Hats off to the brilliant performance i witnessed today. The Sound systems are amazing.

Having been an ardent fan of Shankar Nag and Malgudi Days, I see some shades of his handiwork in this place overall.

I feel, the touch of this brilliant Director,Actor and Visionary still lurks in the pillars of Ranga Shankara long after he is gone.

~P