THE BIG LEAP

How Rambo Circus turned to digital streaming to stay afloat during the Covid-19 crisis

- KATHAKALI CHANDA

In the backyard of a local vegetable market in Navi Mumbai’s Airoli, on the outskirts of Mumbai, the blue and yellow Big Top of Rambo Circus stands out like a ghost town. Perhaps emblematic of the industry it represents, the grass is unkempt, the lights are off and the usual hubbub is missing; only a handful of curious urchins stop by as the bespectacled clown, in his polka-dotted overalls, steps out for a phone call.

Inside the barebones tent, though, owner Sujit Dilip is anything but downcast. A burly man of 45, who survived Covid-19 along with his father in June, Sujit explains the emptiness: “It’s because most of our artistes have gone home to their families to celebrate Dussehra and Diwali after years,” he says. “We were able to distribute some money from our recent shows among 82 staff members, after being shut since March once the national lockdown was announced.”