A master puppeteer will put on a rare show for connoisseurs in the city on Saturday evening.
A master puppeteer will put on a rare show for connoisseurs in the city on Saturday evening. A master of Karnataka’s rod puppet tradition, award-winning MR Ranganath Rao, will recreate a scene from classical literature — a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Satyabhama.
“At 79, Rao is a rare treasure. He will share his life experiences, and the origin and ethos of the art form in the event,” said Deepika Dorai, an artiste and student of Rao. Dorai and her husband Deepak are presenting Rao at their art school —Bimba Art Ashram on Saturday. The event is organised as part of Bimba Art Foundation's weekly programme, ‘Every Saturday Art at 6.30 pm'
It has been a long journey for the Rao. He was just eight when his grandfather, a famous puppeteer, passed away. In his late 40s, school teacher Rao decided to pick up puppets and play them. He also wrote poetry and was inclined towards music and theatre.
He did not have any formal training, and the puppets made by his grandfather, Narasingha Rao, were all taken away.
“Rao is a master in true sense. He created his own puppets, writes lyrics for the show and gives music,” said Deepak. Rao won the National Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 10 years after taking up puppetry.
Rao has been teaching and holding workshops for those keen on puppetry in the city. “I have trained four to five groups in Bangalore who conduct puppet shows. I also hold demonstrations. There are a lot of people interested in the art form in cities,” said Rao.
Rao added that north Indian puppetry is turning more contemporary while that of south India remain traditional.
“We need to experiment to attract eyeballs, and to compete with modern media,” he added He will present the 20-minute show along with wife Gayatri Ranganath, artistes Deepika Dorai
and Uma Nagaraj.
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