25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav to begin from January 27 with 289 Indian, international plays

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) The 25th edition of National School of Drama's annual marquee event Bharat Rang Mahotsav will begin here from January 27 with many firsts, including productions by 33 women directors, participation of theatre groups from 15 countries, and inclusion of a number of new venues, director Chittaranjan Tripathy announced on Thursday.

The festival, popularly known as "Bharangam", will feature a total of 277 Indian and 12 international productions, including from Russia, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, and Nepal, across 40 centres nationwide, encompassing performances in 228 languages and dialects.

In addition, the theatre festival will present 19 university and 14 local productions.

The drama school is yet to announce the performance schedule.

"We will feature at least one production from each continent this time, making it the largest international theatre festival in the world. Here, one witnesses a vast confluence of languages, regions, aesthetics and ideologies converging through varied forms and genres of theatre. From classical to avant-garde, from musical and physical theatre to folk traditions, the festival brings together practices from across ages and sensibilities," Tripathy said at a press conference.

He added that the institute plans to launch an NSD radio station that will broadcast radio theatrical productions, including archived plays of the drama school.

The institute will also launch its OTT channel along with a podcast series during the festival.

This year, the festival has included Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tulu, Urdu, Sanskrit, Tai Khamti, and Nyishi apart from other major Indian languages and several tribal and endangered languages.

The festival will also expand to a number of new local centres for the first time, including Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Aizawl (Mizoram), Tura (Meghalaya), Nagaon (Assam), Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), and Rohtak (Haryana).

"We are organising this theatre festival in some of the farthest Indian cities, places where people have very limited, or in some cases no access at all to theatre. It is also a matter of great pride for NSD to offer a platform to some of those underrepresented languages in the country, which possess their own rich oral and written heritage," Tripathy added.

The festival will have a range of curated and allied theatre festivals, including Adirang for tribal crafts, children's theatre festival Jashn-e-Bachpan, Bal Sangam by children, Poorvottar Natya Samaroh for theatre from the Northeast, puppet theatre, dance drama, classical drama featuring Sanskrit plays, and the Micro Drama festival showcasing short-format productions.

It will also be the first time that theatrical productions by transgender communities, sex workers, senior citizens and other marginalised social groups will be featured at Bharangam.

The festival will see participation of national and international cultural and academic institutions, including the Maithili-Bhojpuri Academy, Hindi Academy, Garhwali-Kumaoni-Jaunsari Academy and the Urdu Academy.

International collaborations include the National Polish Theatre Academy, the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts from Spain, and the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts.

"The Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2026 stands as an epitome of the democratisation and universalisation of theatre, not only in its intent but also in its scale, the inclusion of numerous Indian and foreign languages, diverse genres, and theatrical expressions from different communities and age groups. It truly embodies the Indian ethos of a shared creative continuum, rather than a monolithic cultural narrative," Bharat Gupt, vice chairman, NSD, said.

The festival will also pay tribute to theatrical stalwarts such as Ebrahim Alkazi, Ratan Thiyam, Daya Prakash Sinha, Bansi Kaul, and Alok Chatterjee.

In continuation of last year's 'Theatre Bazaar' segment, the festival will invite newly written plays, of which the best work will be awarded and published.

Under NSD's Shruti initiatives, 17 new books on theatre will be launched.

The nearly month-long festival will come to an end on February 20. PTI MAH MAH BK BK