Updated: 05 Nov 2020, 10:47 AM IST
The Covid-19 pandemic made the world come to a screeching halt and it seemed that life as we knew it had changed forever. Businesses halted, people were jobless and it all looked gloomy but things started changing as everything went online. The creative industry jumped on the bandwagon and started producing shows online. The biggest change was when a 29-year-old circus went online. (Pic: Laqshya LiveEx and Production Crew)
Mumbai-based Rambo Circus started its first ever digitally produced show, ‘Life is a circus’, of one hour duration from September, which got streamed by BookMyShow. Trapeze artists, jugglers, clowns, stilt walkers, music, and lights – it was all packed in to create an experience that could be as real and bewitching for the audience. Not surprisingly, the first weekend of the online show was a complete sellout. (Pic: Laqshya LiveEx and Production Crew)
Business for comedians like Raunaq Rajani and Vikram Poddar came to a halt too. The months between March and May were filled with uncertainty and struggle. When Rajani did his first Zoom show with his viewers on mute to avoid any background noise, it did not quite pan out as he had expected, and he was left guessing the audience reactions on his wisecracks. Eventually, he decided to make the sessions interactive like any live show. He told people to switch on their camera and mics at the start of the show and listening to them laugh collectively made a world of a difference for him. Poddar, whose company Boredroom Comedy offers corporate comedy solutions did 6-7 paid gigs during the lockdown and says that the crisis has made him tough. (Pic: Shreyas Mule)
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From empty venues to online symphonies
If artists have suffered, venues which accommodated large crowds and were a mecca for the Performing Arts fared no better. For the first time in the history of the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), theaters were closed and performances cancelled. But instead of waiting and watching they moved to a digital platform with the launch of a YouTube broadcast series, NCPA@home, in 10 days. Featuring archival performances by the Symphony Orchestra of India and from Indian music, dance and jazz genres, the series received an upbeat response.
Sabbas Joseph, Co-Founder and Director of event management company Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd, calls it a case of a bird being shot in mid-flight. He believes that the pandemic put the flourishing events and creative industry on pause. The restrictions put performers and venues out of business. Theatre person and actress Lillete Dubey says that the situation faced by Indian artists is in direct contrast to the scenario internationally where arts get assistance from the government. She feels that though the online medium is picking up with live performing arts being badly hit, it can never replace the rush felt while seeing a live shared experience. (Pic: Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd)
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Are they getting noticed?
On the plus side, independent musicians are getting noticed more during this period as Bollywood is not releasing movies at present. Abhijit Jejurikar, Founder & Curator of Dharavi Reloaded, a novel music project that involves slum children to create music on varied recycled materials believes that people are exploring different genres of music and want to see new musicians. But he adds that his company could not do any online shows during the lockdown period as it would need the band together to perform. He feels the experience of Dharavi Reloaded has to be felt in real time and Zoom or any online forums can’t replicate that. (Pic: Dharavi Reloaded)
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The gradual opening up
The industry is slowly picking up the pieces to regain momentum and the lost lustre. Lillete Dubey, who resumed her shoot schedule from July, says that one cannot continue living in a bubble and be locked out forever. Raunaq Rajani admits to the Zoom calls being good for the art as it makes the standup comedy act more conversational. He now has a host of online shows in the pipeline for his audiences. He says that those who thought they were ‘too good’ for Zoom shows or that it would all be normal in the initial 14 days also had to change track. If innovation was the name of the game, the creative entertainment industry proved its mettle in, possibly, one of the toughest times for them as entertainers.
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