Mumbai: With a plethora of entertainment content from YouTube and various electronic media channels, the existence of a circus seems astonishing in today’s fast-paced times.
But despite the crowd of electronic channels, the attraction of the circus has not ended. The circus, which was closed during the pandemic of Covid-19, is now being organized in various cities across the country during the ‘Hunar Haat’ and getting support from the audiences is overwhelming.
Every artist of the circus, who provides live entertainment to the spectators by performing risky art with their hard work, said that the circus is really going through a crisis. Many artists said that If the government did not do any such help for the upliftment of the circus artists, then the hundreds of circus artists who are running their families with this art, would be in dire need of money.
Through the Hunar Haat program, the Governor of Punjab and the Administrator of Chandigarh, Banwarilal Purohit, has given a reward of Rs 11,000 and a citation to each circus artist. The 52 year-old Biju, who has been playing the role of Joker in this circus for the last 27 years, said that he has never got so much appreciation of his work like this in his entire career.
“I didn’t tell my kids that I was the ‘clown’ of the circus, I was afraid that they might not mind that their father-husband is a ‘clown’ at which everyone laughs,” Biju said. But after the recognition of Hunar Haat, Biju describes himself as a proud clown artist.
The program of the Ministry of Minority Affairs ‘Hunar Haat’ will run from April 16 to 27 at the MMRDA ground of Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, in which along with daily cultural programs, three circus shows will be organized at 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm.
With this initiative of the government, the circus is certainly going to be back in the common people’s life and will attract the audience towards it.
EOM
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