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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.

From Jihadist to Statesman?

Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, once the face of Syria’s insurgency, is being recast as a geopolitical linchpin by Trump, Europe and even the Gulf.

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In a region notorious for shifting alliances and smouldering ruins, few transformations of late have been as audacious (or as expedient) as that of Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, hitherto known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. A decade ago, he was the poster boy of Syria’s jihadist rebellion. Today, he is welcomed by the Arab League, feted in Paris by Macron, and embraced by Donald Trump. Once the commander of Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise, al-Sharaa now projects himself as a nationalist reformer, eager to stitch Syria back into the regional fabric.


The fact that the world is even entertaining this volte-face is testament to the collapse of old certainties in the shape-shifting realm of today’s geopolitics. With Bashar al-Assad’s power gutted by 14 years of war, and with Iran’s influence eroded by Israeli strikes, Gulf monarchies and Western powers alike have opted for a pragmatic reset.


This rebranding has unfolded with theatrical efficiency. Last month, al-Sharaa met Donald Trump in Riyadh, an encounter that sent ripples across capitals from Tel Aviv to Ankara. The message in that meeting, orchestrated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was that the Arab world’s most notorious former jihadist was now emerging as a figure worth courting. Syria’s Arab League membership was promptly restored while Trump lifted sanctions, to the consternation of many in the West. France and the European Union queued up to dangle investment carrots before Syria. Even China has begun to ink infrastructure MoUs.


Even Israel began to exhibit something like rapprochement, signalling it would tolerate al-Sharaa’s ascendancy so long as he kept Iranian militias out and maintains quiet on the Golan Heights.


Meanwhile, Al-Sharaa’s message to the West has been one of sober realism. Gone is the language of jihad and revolution. In its place is a blueprint of “zero problems with neighbours,” neoliberal reconstruction, and an invitation to join Syria’s economic resurrection. His government thus far has made all the right noises with promises to neutralise chemical stockpiles, eliminate foreign jihadists, sideline Palestinian militants and even prosecute the perpetrators of sectarian killings. These gestures helped secure the support of Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi, thus unlocking a historic accord that integrates the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the state.


Syria under al-Sharaa is being packaged as the next success story of the Abraham Accords. This perfectly suits Trump, who has been almost desperately eager to burnish his Middle East credentials. Trump has privately warned Israel that continued escalation in Gaza could rupture the budding Arab-Israeli détente. Meanwhile, he has gently nudged Ankara and Tel Aviv to resolve their Syria disputes through back-channel talks.


To the Gulf states, al-Sharaa is a case study in political Islam 2.0. Whereas the revolutionary model backed by Turkey and Qatar favouring Muslim Brotherhood-aligned movements has proved destabilising, the Syrian president’s post-jihadist conservatism appears more palatable. It may not be ‘liberal’ in the classic sense of the word, but it is disciplined. It promises order, not upheaval. For Saudi Arabia and the Emiratis, this is enough. In the calculus of power, non-Brotherhood Islamism is an acceptable bulwark against both Iranian expansionism and renewed chaos.


Still, risks abound. The blood on Sharaa’s past is not so easily washed away. His links to al-Qaeda and later Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) may no longer be actionable, but they remain disquieting. The massacre of over 1,300 Alawites in March this year nearly torpedoed his international rehabilitation. That he weathered the storm owed much to political timing and to the weariness of foreign powers with Syria’s endless fragmentation. The West no longer demands a democratic transition in Damascus but merely seeks a manageable partner.


It appears that is exactly what al-Sharaa aspires to be. It remains to be seen whether he can consolidate power, placate former enemies and keep foreign actors at bay. After all, Syria’s mosaic of sects and militias is not easily ruled. Yet in this moment, with the West Asian world craving stability, Ahmed al-Sharaa is being recast not as the ghost of Syria’s jihadist past, but as a symbol of its post-Assad pragmatism.


Al-Sharaa walks a tightrope, balancing Western expectations, Gulf patronage, Kurdish integration and domestic legitimacy. He must rebuild a state with gutted institutions while placating warlords and regional satraps who remain sceptical of his authority.


For now, the gamble continues.

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