Lucknow: Preparations for the annual Ramlila organised by the Shri Ramlila Committee, Mahanagar, are progressing rapidly, with rehearsals for the traditional boatman and fisherman sequences being conducted with young performers. The Ramlila will be staged from October 14 to 21.
Under the direction of Bharti Pandey, children are rehearsing key episodes, including the Kevat episode and the birth of Sita. The fisherman dance, featuring the song “Wo Machhua Aao Chale Nadiya Kinare”, is expected to be one of the highlights this year. Children are also rehearsing “Prakati Siya Sukhdai” for Sita’s birth and “Awadh Mein Baje Badhaiyan” for the birth of Lord Ram.
Hema Joshi, Chitra Kandpal and others are helping the young performers refine their movements and presentation. Ramlila director Mahendra Pant and co-director Harish Lohumi are training other artistes in dialogues, acting and character portrayal.
Committee president Lalit Mohan Joshi and general secretary Hem Pant said a budget of around Rs 10 lakh has been allocated for this year’s production. They added that audiences will witness several new scenes, visual elements and special theatrical experiments during the performances.
Media in-charge Devendra Mishra said a preparatory meeting was also held, attended by patron Flying Officer B.P. Pandey, Sanjay Srivastava, chief coordinator Deepak Pandey ‘Deenu’, senior office-bearers Vinod Pant ‘Beenu’, K.K. Pandey ‘Kanhaiya’, Ghananand Joshi, Brijesh Mehta, Neeraj Lohani, Anand Singh, Tara Dutt Joshi, Himanshu Mishra, Sanjay Pandey, Manoj Nigam, Sarvjeet Singh Bora, Deepesh Pandey, Kamal Pant, Bhavna Lohani, Chitra Pandey, Hema Panda and Indu Bhatt.
