Karnataka: Play in first PU text will soon make it to OTT as teleplay

HUBBALLI: ‘Bhole Shankara’, the play by Jnanpith laureate Chandrashekhar Kambar, will soon be screened as a teleplay on an OTT platform. With this, Hubballi-based theatre group Guru Institute is exploring new possibilities for the Kannada theatre.
Yashavant Sirdeshpande, producer of the teleplay and the mentor of Guru Institute, said that the play is a text for I PU students.It’s being produced in the interest of students and folk drama/ theatre lovers with financial assistance from Tamil Nadu-based NLC India Ltd (a Navaratna government of India company) under its art culture development programme.
“Thirty-five artistes, technicians and cinematographers from Hubballi-Dharwad are involved in the production. The 1.30hour play will be released on an OTT platform. Rather than financial profits, we are releasing it to take a folk drama to modern audience. With this initiative, we want to prove that technology is not a bane to folklore and theatre, but a boon to reach out to the next gen,” Yashavant said.
Play director Pramod Shiggaon hoped that the ‘Bhole Shankara’ offered good scope to be adapted to visual media. “The state has about 7 lakh I PU students, of whom 50% might have opted Kannada language. Even if 10,000 of them watch, we consider it a big number for any play during the pandemic. If we get good response from afficianodoes of Kannada folklore and theatre, we will produce folk dramas like ‘Sangya Balya’ and ‘Kadlimatti Kashibai’ in the coming days,” he explained.
Yashavant and Pramod said that discussions are on with an OTT platform, and that they will approach the PU board to suggest the students to watch the teleplay, which will be released after December 15.
Sunanda S M, a Kannada lecturer at a PU college here, said ‘Bhole Shankara’ is being taught only in the classroom set-up. “However this year, classroom learning is disturbed due to the pandemic. So bringing the play on screen will prove helpful for students and also lecturers. Students can easily understand the theme of the play and remember it too,” she added.