BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): Thanks to Covid pandemic, the Foundation Day celebrations of Bharat Bhavan will be a subdued affair this year too. Bhavan, the famed multi-art complex, will turn 40 on February 13.
Last year, the celebrations lasted for four days. This year, celebrations will be held from February 13-17. On the first day, Rashtriya Kalidas and Shikhar Sammans will be presented. On the same day, an exhibition of art works of awardees will be inaugurated.
The awardees include Jyoti Bhatt (Gujarat), Dhruv Mistri (Varodara), Devilal Patidar (Bhopal), Manish Pushkale, Ira Chaudhary and Paramjeet Singh ( all from Delhi). Artistes from Swar Venu Gurukul, Indore, will present a flute recital under the direction of Santosh Sant.
On the second day, play ¡akhiri Vasant, directed by Kalidas Samman awardee Anil Rastogi, will be staged by the artistes from Darpan, Lucknow. On February 15, dance drama Amritsay Narmada will be presented by Suchitra Harmalkar and her troupe.
Guru Dutt's classic film, Pyasa, will be screened on February 16 in the afternoon. In the evening, a multilingual poets' meet will be held. The poets who will be participate include Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari (Hindi), Mithila Prasad Tripathi and Ramnath Jha (Sanskrit), Parmita Satpathi (Udiya), Kalpana Dudhal (Marathi).
On the concluding day, that is February17, play Mohe Piya will be staged by the team of Rangpeeth, Mumbai.
Bharat Bhavan was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on February 13, 1982. Since then, it has been celebrating its Foundation Day with great fanfare with eminent artistes from the nation and abroad participating. In 2020, the celebrations lasted for 11 days.
Chief administrative officer of Bhavan, Prem Shankar Shukla, told Free Press that the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may inaugurate the celebrations.
Shukla said that they had planned to hold the event in a big way this year. However, the third wave of the corona pandemic has forced them to curtail the celebrations. 'We had planned to invite well-known artistes from all over the country. However, they were unwilling to commit themselves due to the pandemic,' he said.
