Hit by pandemic, India’s circuses forced to walk financial tightrope

The Great Bombay Circus, considered one of India’s greatest and oldest, had deliberate mega celebrations in October to mark its centenary this 12 months. With no exhibits previously seven months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it finds itself strolling a tightrope for survival as an alternative.

“We are trying hard to save the circus; in fact, not just us, the pandemic has dealt a body blow to most circuses, which were struggling to stay afloat even before the pandemic,” says KM Sanjeev, co-partner, the Great Bombay Circus.

India’s two dozen huge and small circuses (as soon as there have been over 300) are struggling within the wake of the lethal pathogen, and have up to now survived on donations; some, equivalent to Rambo, have even tried to go digital. “Can you imagine what it is like to feed a family of 150 when your income suddenly falls to zero. I had to sell my property to save the circus. When the lockdown was announced, we never thought the crisis would last so long,” says Raju Pehalwan, who owns Asiad Circus, began it within the late 1980s.

In October yearly, his circus pitches tents in Delhi, performing in locations equivalent to Dwarka, Rohini, Pitampura, Janakpuri. The circus was in Indore when the lockdown occurred, and has remained caught there whereas many artistes have since left for his or her native locations.

The Great Bombay Circus was to journey to Delhi the place it has been often performing in locations like Peeragarhi, Rajouri Garden and Karkardooma, in December. It was in Mannargudi in Tamil Nadu when the lockdown occurred, and has been caught there since March.

Sanjeev says it takes nearly Rs 1 lakh every single day to run the circus, together with the salaries of artistes, meals, floor hire, electrical energy and water payments. In the preliminary months of the lockdown, about 200 employees of the circus, together with 134 artistes, survived on donations of rice, dal and greens from the locals. In late April, the circus ran a marketing campaign on Milaap, a crowd-funding platform, managing to lift over Rs 53 lakh. “It helped us pay a small part of their (artistes) salaries so that they could take care of their families in different parts of the country. The funds also helped us arrange travel expenses of our foreign artists so that they could go home as they were stuck in India since March,” mentioned Sanjeev.

Most circus artistes earn something between ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 a month, and spend their complete lives on the truthful. For occasion, Tulsidas Chaudhry, 54, who performs a clown, has been working on the Great Bombay Circus for the previous a number of years.

“My fellow artistes said that I am old and should go home till things get better and circus restarts. People like me who play such characters (clowns) face only contempt beyond the tents of the circus,” says Chaudhry, who was incomes about ₹15,000 a month earlier than the lockdown. He returned to his village in Bihar final month. His circus firm, he says, has been beneficiant, giving him half the wage all these months. “It is easier to make people cry than laugh and I want to continue to make people laugh till my last breath. I just hope that I am able to return to the ring soon,” mentioned Chaudhry, who speaks Malayalam, Tamil, Assamese, Bengali and Hindi.

“Most old circus artistes can fluently speak many Indian languages.It is because circus has people from all parts of the country, living together like one big family. We are deeply worried about our future in the post-Covid world.”

While circus homeowners equivalent to Pehalwan say the decline of the circus began with a ban on animals in 1998, many imagine Indian circus has didn’t reinvent itself and the Covid disaster will power them to vary. A 3-hour present gives the identical previous fare: gymnastics, juggling, acrobatics and flying trapeze acts not like their international counterparts, which have launched new applied sciences, sideshows and new ideas equivalent to theatrical, narrative-driven circus. Most circuses overseas depend on human spectacle than animals.

“Circuses in India have been trying to modernise; they have introduced international artistes 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,” mentioned Vipin Nair, a Supreme Court lawyer, who’s a member of and authorized advisor to the Delhi- based mostly CFS (Circus Fans affiliation).

Delhi can also be residence to Indian Circus Federation, whose declining membership —from 25 to 5 previously 5 years — displays the diminishing fortunes of the circus in India.

“This is a traditional industry. The Indian circus needs to reinvent itself both in terms of the content of the show, infrastructure, and also how it markets itself to the new generation. The Covid-19 pandemic has made them open to change,” mentioned Aditya Shah, whose household has been within the circus administration enterprise — offering logistics, promoting and finance, serving a few of India greatest circus corporations for the previous 70 years.

“In fact, we are already working with some circuses to modernise interiors and seating and to help them adopt digital marketing, ” he added.

Rambo Circus has taken a digital to route to stay related in the course of the pandemic. In August, it labored with an occasion administration firm and a manufacturing home to shoot trapeze acts, acrobatic stunts contained in the circus, additionally weaving the story of the life, achievements, struggles of the artistes, who rehearsed for 3 weeks in to make the performances look spectacular on the display screen.

In September, the tickets for the digital Life Is a Circus had been bought on EbookMyPresent. “We managed to sell about 21,000 tickets. The next digital show is in November, ” mentioned Sujit Dilip, the proprietor of the circus. “But I know that a live circus is the real thing; digital circus can only be a temporary measure to survive. Most of those who bought tickets were young people who had never been to circus. I am sure our digital shows will eventually help bring new audiences to the circus when we reopen.”

Artistes say digital circus just isn’t what excites them.

“As a performing artist, I love and live for the audience applause. I have a feeling circus will not survive beyond five years. Covid-19 has only hastened its death. But unlike me, who have agriculture land and can farm, most do not have anything to fall back on,” mentioned Raju Barde, a 40-year-old flying trapeze artiste who has been within the circus for the previous 25 years.

Biju Pushkaran, 51, a well-known circus clown, has comparable views. “What excites me are the hugs from children in the audience. They take selfies with me. It is this adulation that kept me going all these years.” In reality, it was his video — an attraction for assist recorded in April in the course of the lockdown — that led to the outpouring of assist for the circus, serving to it get donations of over ₹12 lakh on Ketto, a crowd-funding platform.

“We make the world laugh, today I stand before you crying,” mentioned Pushkaran in his video attraction for assist. “Jeena yahan marna yahan.”