Ramlila: 'Dashrath' collapses on stage during scene in Bijnor, dies

BIJNOR: The audience watched with rapt attention as a distraught “King Dashrath” ran to the edge of the stage, crying out for his son, Ram, who was proceeding on a 14-year exile. Suddenly, the king collapsed on the stage, drawing a huge applause from the audience who thought he was quite convincing in his portrayal of a father pining for his son. Little did anybody realise that the actor playing the part -- former village pradhan Rajender Kashyap (62) of Hasanpur village in Bijnor’s Rehad region -- was actually dead.
Sanjay Singh Gandhi, president of the Ramlila committee, said, “It was very tragic. No body realised what had actually happened. Everyone kept applauding, considering it to be a piece of great acting although he had suffered a massive cardiac arrest.”
By the time other cast members rushed to Kashyap’s aid, it was too late. Unable to revive him, they rushed him to a medical facility but he was declared dead by doctors.
A wave of sorrow swept across his village, whose residents had seen him enacting various Ramlila characters year after year for the past two decades.
Kashyap is survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters. He was cremated on Friday evening.