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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Thrills, roars and cheers under a giant marquee

Rambo Circus pitches a tent in MMR Mumbai : Mumbaikars are thronging to rediscover the joys of stunning, live entertainment as the familiar Rambo Circus has pitched a tent in Borivali West, before it shifts to Navi Mumbai from December 2.   This is billed as the first major full-scale season post-Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to a near washout of shows owing to social-distancing norms and public fears. The tent is now attracting a strong public response, said Rambo Circus Director and...

Thrills, roars and cheers under a giant marquee

Rambo Circus pitches a tent in MMR Mumbai : Mumbaikars are thronging to rediscover the joys of stunning, live entertainment as the familiar Rambo Circus has pitched a tent in Borivali West, before it shifts to Navi Mumbai from December 2.   This is billed as the first major full-scale season post-Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to a near washout of shows owing to social-distancing norms and public fears. The tent is now attracting a strong public response, said Rambo Circus Director and owner Sujit Dilip.   “We get good crowds on weekends and holidays, but weekdays are still a struggle. Our fixed expenses are around Rs. One Crore per month. Costs have gone up nearly ten times on all fronts in the last five years, and the 18% GST is killing. We manage around 1,500 shows annually, but barely break even, with wafer-thin margins,” said Dilip, 50.   The logistics alone are staggering. Rambo Circus travels across India with an 80-member troupe of acrobats, aerialists, sword balancers, jugglers, jokers, rigging crews, support staff, massive equipment, and a few mechanical animals.   “Many of my people have spent their entire lives under the tent. We live like a huge family. I try to support their children’s education, medical needs and help them build some financial stability. But without resources, it is becoming increasingly difficult,” said Dilip, his voice weary after decades of struggle for survival.   He reminisced of the golden era of Indian circus, around the second half of the last century, when there were many grand, full-scale circuses, but today barely half a dozen professional setups remain - Gemini, Golden, Ajanta, Asian, Great Bombay, and Rambo - along with a few smaller, local outfits.   “Unlike most countries where circuses come under the Cultural Ministry, India offers no institutional identity or support. I am invited as a jury member to several top annual international circus festivals. I feel sad as not a single Indian artist features on global stages. We just have no backing here,” Dilip told The Perfect Voice in a free-wheeling chat.   He said the decline accelerated after the ban on live animal performances nearly 20 years ago in India. In contrast, many foreign circuses still feature elephants, horses, bears, zebras, llamas, tigers, leopards, lions, and exotic birds - though most face heavy resistance from animal-rights groups.   “Moreover, ticket rates in India are among the lowest in the world, without tax concessions. In foreign circuses, even in smaller countries, tickets start at Rs 10,000 per head. We can’t dare match that…” he rued.   Yet, the thirst to lure audiences remains undiminished. Rambo Circus now leans on technology and innovation, featuring a mechanical elephant, a giraffe on stilts, stuffed zebras, deer, bears and horses, and has commissioned a Japanese company to design a robotic lion to perform tricks.   To make the shows more interactive, MoC – a tall senior joker – invites the young audience members into the ring to try small acts like skipping, jumping, or dancing with help from the midget clowns, and the kids’ shrieks of joy echo through the tent, as their parents furiously click videos and selfies.   Dilip recalled that during the pandemic lockdown, when survival seemed impossible, Rambo Circus pioneered online ticketed shows, selling nearly 50,000 virtual tickets - the highest among circuses worldwide at that time, and earned praise by international peers.   “We are swimming alone… For us, it’s not just entertainment. It is art, heritage, livelihood, identity, and passion - and we will fight for a dignified existence,” Dilip said quietly.   Rambo Circus’ emotional tug at PM’s heart Rambo Circus Director and owner Sujit Dilip appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help save this art form with a huge potential to generate jobs, discover talents, earn massive revenues and foreign exchange.   “We urge the PM and ICCR to give Indian circuses a formal status, affordable venues for our shows, extend bank loans, opportunities for skill-upgradation, foreign collaborations and inclusion under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ CSR list. Many corporates wish to help, but current rules prevent it,” Dilip told The Perfect Voice .   He recalled how, during Covid-19, Rambo Circus launched online shows and sold nearly 50,000 tickets, proving the potential of Indian circus talent and earning acclaim worldwide for his innovation. “Our dream is to make India’s circuses world-class, and we need government support to achieve this,” he said.   History of circuses – Roman Arenas to open maidans The name ‘circus’ had its origins in ancient Rome, where chariot races, gladiator clashes, displays/deadly fights between wild animals and condemned humans enraptured audiences in huge open arenas. Later, circuses began modestly in 1768 with horse tricks performed by Philip Astley, a London cavalryman. Then, came the modern version of live performances by horses/ponies in the US in 1793, and in the 1830s, wild animals were introduced.   Many Hollywood films featured circuses as the backdrop. The most memorable ones are: Charlie Chaplin’s “The Circus” (1928); Walt Disney’s “Dumbo’ (1941); Cecile B. DeMille’s 2 Oscar Award-winning “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952); biopic on P.T. Barnum “The Greatest Showman” (2017), et al.   Bollywood’s own legendary ringside acts were in films like Raj Kapoor’s “Mera Naam Joker” (1970); “Chandralekha” (1948); “Appu Raja” (1989); “Circus Queen” (1959); “Shikari” (1991); “Dhoom 3” (2013); and the howlarious circus climax in Firoz A. Nadiadwala’s “Phir Hera Pheri” (2006), etc.

Cry Freedom!

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Mir Yar Baloch, a hitherto unknown activist globally, has thrust himself into the geopolitical limelight by declaring Balochistan independent from Pakistan. From his perch in exile, he has cast the gauntlet not only at Islamabad but also into the court of the world’s great powers, urging formal recognition of the putative Republic of Balochistan.


To understand the weight of that declaration, one must consider the history of Balochistan’s fractious relationship with the Pakistani state. When British India was carved in 1947, Balochistan’s princely rulers sought autonomy, briefly declaring independence. But Pakistan annexed the region by force in 1948, setting the stage for decades of insurgency. Five major uprisings have since scarred its arid terrain. The most recent, ignited after the 2006 killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a revered tribal leader, still simmers.


Mir Yar Baloch is not the first to call for secession, but he is the most forthright in framing it for the digital age. A writer, human rights activist and self-styled diplomat of the Free Baloch Movement, he has harnessed social media to globalise the Baloch cause. His slogan, ‘Tum Maroge Hum Niklenge, Hum Nasal BachanyNikle Hain’ has struck a chord among the Baloch diaspora. He has requested India to host a Baloch embassy in New Delhi and demanded the UN deploy peacekeepers to the province.


Balochistan has suffered more than any other province under Pakistan’s military-dominated establishment. Enforced disappearances, mass graves and air strikes are common in its restive districts. Baloch nationalists argue that Pakistan’s Punjabi elite has extracted the region’s natural wealth while giving little in return. The gas fields of Sui, which power much of urban Pakistan, have brought scant development to the Bugti heartland where they lie. Today, the vast copper and gold reserves of RekoDiq threaten to repeat that pattern.


What raises the geopolitical stakes is Balochistan’s location. It borders both Iran and Afghanistan and provides Pakistan access to the Arabian Sea. China has poured billions into developing the port of Gwadar as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, hoping to funnel oil and goods from the Middle East across Pakistan to Xinjiang. The Baloch insurgency is a direct threat to all this. Locals complain of being shut out from jobs and land, while Islamabad insists many have prospered from land sales and infrastructure contracts. As is often the case in Pakistan, both narratives contain some truth and conceal much more.


India, for its part, has long watched Balochistan with a mixture of quiet interest and strategic ambiguity. Since 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the plight of Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, whispers of Indian support for Baloch separatists have grown louder. Mir Yar Baloch’s declaration and his open support for India’s demand that Pakistan vacate PoK has added fuel to that fire.


There are risks that Mir Yar Baloch could be dismissed as a ‘fringe’ provocateur by Western powers wary of new borders and averse to antagonising Pakistan, notwithstanding its record of harnessing terrorists. Yet in a region where identities are fiercely contested, his voice may resonate longer than expected, especially given that Indian strikes during Operation Sindoor have laid Pakistan’s defences totally prostrate. India, emboldened by its show of force and growing international clout, will undeniably find strategic value in amplifying voices like Baloch’s. In a region where empires have fallen and maps have shifted, Balochistan’s claim, long buried under boots and silence, is once again on the table.

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