COVID-19 almost killed Rambo Circus, now it's going to Monaco

Rambo Circus and its staff have set an inspirational testimony for the common personmdashnever give up The circus which was once on the verge of shutting down forever during the COVID lockdown has not only survived the pandemic but the teamwork and outofthebox thinking made it sail through the tough timeThe organisers introduced the never before concepts in circushellip circus online circus in an auditorium and circus on demand which made them come out stronger financially The outcome of this is the Rambo Circus owner now being invited to lead the technical jury for the 47th Monte Carlo Circus Festival to be held from January 17 to January 22 which will have circusesperformers participating from around the worldBiju Pushkaran Nair has been working with Rambo Circus for more than 25 yearsInterestingly amongst six international technical juries for the festival India tops the jury list followed by representatives from Sweden China Switzerland Great Britain and Australia and the event will be chaired by Princess Stephanie of Monaco midday had carried a series of stories on Rambo Circus amidst the pandemic highlighting how 90 performers and 20 animals living in the open needed help and also the circus owner and performersrsquo battle with the virusNever expectedRambo Circus Director Sujit Dilip Panachamuttil 49 confirmed the development hours before he and two of his circus performersmdashclown Biju Pushkaran Nair 51 and multitalented artiste Pappu Beniwalmdashtook their flight from Mumbai to Monte Carlo Monaco on January 15ldquoI never expected such an honour from the organising committee of the 47th Monte Carlo Circus Festival who named me as one of their jurors for the upcoming Festival International Du Cirque de Monte Carlomdashan event which attracts circuses from across the world I am happy to make my country proud on an international platform I wish my parents were alive today they expired over two years agordquoA Rambo Circus show organised inside an auditoriumAccording to Sujit the federation Monte Carlo gives a platform to promote circuses and celebrate the creative talent of circus performers by organising a 6daylong international circus festival in Monaco which has attracted top performers from across the world for over four decadesSujit added ldquoIn January 2024 I was one of the guest speakers during the General Assembly of the Federation in Monte Carlo and I poured my heart out narrating the difficulties that Rambo Circus faced during the first two waves of COVID the subsequent lockdown and how collective team effort and out of box thinking helped us remain afloat even during the crises period We started circus online took circus to the auditorium and had circus on demand something which was unheard in the circus industry world overrdquolsquoMumbaikars Maharashtra kept us going during COVIDrsquoldquoMumbaikars and Good Samaritans from across Maharashtra helped us during the COVID crises from donating food grains to sanitary pads for our female artistes during the lockdown after they read our plight in midday and other papers We had 90 performers and 20 puppies who were our extended family and we had to feed them With no show no money things were not easyrdquo recalled SujitSujit Dilip Panachamuttil director Rambo CircusldquoWe started growing vegetables and poultry on the 5 acres of land that was donated to us at a place called Mundwa on the outskirts of Pune by a Good Samaritan We shifted our base to Pune during the second wave of COVID From there we started an online circus which was well appreciated and liked by the public as they had no other means to visit crowded placesrdquo said SujitCall from ministryAccording to Sujit sometime after COVID restrictions were lifted he received a call from the office of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi minorities minister Government of India and I was invited to Delhi to meet him ldquoI initially presumed it to be a fake phone call thinking that someone tried to prank merdquo recalled SujitldquoBut on the advice of my close aides and family I visited Delhi and was allowed to meet the minister who informed me about the government plan to organise lsquoHunnar Haatrsquo a Government of India initiative to promote artisans and craftsmen from all walks of life giving them direct and indirect employment opportunities by holding exhibitions across the country The minister wanted me to have my circus team perform at the exhibitions to attract more crowdsrdquo Sujit saidldquoThe minister even mooted the idea of joining hands with other circus performers whose circus shut down forever amidst the COVID outbreak As the Rambo Circus team was already performing regular shows I could rope in many artistes from other circuses and had them perform at the government eventrdquo Sujit addedFrom tent to auditoriumSujit said once minorities minister Naqui moved out of the post the lsquoHunnar Haatrsquo contract also came to an end ldquoThe biggest question was how to take care of the additional performers Accommodating them in regular tent shows was not possible as we already had our team which has been with us for decades It was to accommodate the additional staff that I decided to take the circus to the auditoriumtheatre for over two years and it is getting a good responserdquo said SujitWhen asked if the traditional tent circus was better than the auditorium Sujit said ldquoTent circus is our traditional form of circus which has its own pros and cons But for the middleclass and highermiddle class they find the auditorium is betterhellip from the deacutecor comfort and security aspects to ambience and airconditioning The tickets for a tent show may be priced between R200 to R800 but for auditoriums it may vary from R350 to Rs 2500rdquoFurther Sujit said the tent gives the freedom to perform many aerial and highrisk activities but in the auditorium they are restricted to floor performances ldquoMoreover tents are booked for a month to 45 days but it is very expensive to rent out an auditoriumtheatre and we cannot afford it for more than a weekrdquo Sujit saidHappy and excitedldquoThe circus is our life and we are excited that our sir Sujit took Rambo Circus to the international levelmdashsomething our founder T P Dilip father of Sujit always dreamt about And we are fortunate that he is taking us along so that we can learn tricks from international troops to incorporate in our shows toordquo Biju and Pappu said while speaking with middayBiju hails from Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala and is associated with Rambo Circus for over 25 years ldquoI was 11 years old and had never been to school when I joined the circus Since then the only art I learnt was to make children and people laugh The biggest achievement is when our work is appreciated by international performers and circus owners and I am looking forward to the same at the upcoming international festivalrdquo said BijuThe history of Rambo CircusRambo Circus was born on January 26 1991 in Saras Baug Pune by the merging of three wellknown circusesmdashArena Circus Victoria Circus and Great Oriental Circus which today would be over 100 years old Rambo founder the late T P Dilip father of Sujit worked with Arena Circus since he was 18 years old till it shut down in 1980 when circuses started incurring losses Rambo Circus has performed many international shows especially in the Gulf regionIt once employed 300 staff and had wild animals including a tiger 24 lions four elephants and two chimpanzees ldquoAfter restrictions were imposed on wild animals at circuses in 19951996 the tigers and lions were sent to Tirupati Zoo where they eventually passed away The elephantsmdashChampa Nitya Sarso and Annarmdashare cared for at Jamnagar by Reliance Industries One chimpanzee died earlier while the other named Suzi died at Hyderabad Zoo three years agordquo Sujit saidLatest from MonteCarloRambo Circus owner and Director who was the chief jury from India to select the best circus performer at international circus festival