BHOPAL: Scary Corona turned killjoy for theatre buffs in the city on Sunday when a play Lahron ke Rajhans was cancelled.
Cancellation of the play just three hours before it was to be staged at Ravindra Bhawan left many theatre lovers disappointed. Corona already denied the movie goers their right to entertainment on Saturday when all cinema halls put up their shutters.
Written by Mohan Rakesh and directed by Sharad Sharma, the play was part of the concluding day of the four-day 35th Arjun Singh Rangotsav.
Abhinav Rangmandal from Ujjain organised the event in memory of former chief minister of MP Arjun Singh. The festival was organised for the first time in Bhopal.
Sharma, also the founder of Abhinav Rangmandal, told Free Press, “I got to know about the cancellation of play from the culture department just three hours before it was to be staged at 7pm. I talked to principal secretary of culture, Pankaj Rag and minister for culture Dr Vijaylaxmi Sadho about it but to no avail.”
Since there is no case of corona in MP and since people are gathering at many places in the city, the show should not have been cancelled, he said.
The disease may spread from the MLAs who have come from other cities, Sharma said.
Everything was ready and props for set were brought from Ujjain by a truck for which organisation had to pay Rs 20,000, he said.
Twenty-two artistes from Baroda, Mumbai, Indore, Ujjain and Bhopal were to perform in the play.
Kamna Bhatt, from Baroda who is playing the lead role in the play said, “I came here for the play. If we were informed about the cancellation one or two days before the show it would have been fine. It was sad that the play was cancelled at the eleventh hour.”
If everything goes well, the play will be staged on April 3, Sharma said.
Cultural events cancelled: Another play ‘Bahaye Prakat Kripala, Deen Dayala,’ directed by Saroj Sharma from Bhopal was also cancelled. The play was about to be staged at Shaheed Bhawan on Sunday. The Directorate of culture has cancelled and postponed all the events in the city from March 15 to 31 because of Covid-19.
