TIGHTROPE WALK

Even as Rambo Circus launched its first digital show, most circus companies in India are reluctant to go online despite taking multiple hits

- SNEHA BHURA

Sujit Dilip from Maharashtra knows the game of survival in the circus industry. After all, his father managed their Rambo Circus company in the UAE, competing for audiences alongside Russian and Italian troupes—until infighting among sponsors forced them to shift base to India in the 1990s. On the phone from Mumbai, sounding a little tired and disconsolate just a week before the debut of Rambo Circus’s ‘digital show’ on September 25, Dilip rues the slings and arrows suffered by the

Indian circus industry. First the government banned the use of wild animals with no compensation to fill the gap. Then they disallowed employing individuals below 18 years—14- to 18-year-olds are most flexible for training as acrobats and trapeze artistes, says Dilip. Also, international circus performers could only visit India on an employment visa, when most overseas circus companies send their artistes on cultural visa, as they operate under their respective culture ministries.

“We are worse than farmers. We do not get any kind of loans because we are not stable; we are travelling all the time,” says Dilip. “There are just 15 to 16 circus companies left in India now, but why is the government not helping us? There are so many permissions required just to perform in the capital. No wonder I do not ever see an Indian flag in the performing arenas of international circus festivals.”