Selja assures more funds for theatre

New Delhi: Theatre will get a fresh lease of life with a higher outlay by the government to promote the genre under the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), Culture Minister Selja said Sunday. "We need to do a lot more to encourage stage productions. We will be releasing a lot more money for theatre in the coming year under the 12th Plan," the minister said at the inauguration the 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav of the National School of Drama at the Kamani Theatre here. "We want to see more and more productions in the coming years from all over the country," Selja said. "The National School of Drama has made its presence felt not only in the capital but in the far corners of the country -- and in parts of the world. I have been told that 16 countries are participating at the Bharat Rang Mahotsav," the minister said. The 15-day theatre festival opened with a Manipuri adapation of Rabindranath Tagore`s "King of the Dark Chamber". The Bharat Rang Mahotsav will host 97 plays across 11 venues in the capital and a package in Amritsar in Punjab. Addressing the gathering, veteran actress Sharmila Tagore said that she had early on discovered the exhilaration of performing in front of an audience. "But the exhilaration was missing when I faced the camera. My career in films has been influenced and nurtured by co-stars who had robust links with theatre," she said. "At this point of life I am doing a number of stage performances. The connection with the audience in theatre is so immediate...our best takes never make it to the final print in films," Tagore said. IANS