Scheme to fund amateur theatre... drama of politics?

bangalore: the kannada and culture directorate's proposal to partially fund amateur theatre productions has caused scepticism about the motive behind it. a similar scheme to fund professional theatre companies drew varied allegations against the then nataka academy president chindodi leela. the scheme, to give a lump sum to the companies for rejuvenation, raised questions like why did four companies belonging to leela herself get money or how come her troupes got more than other well-established companies.stalwarts reacting to the proposed amateur theatre scheme told the times of india that it might end up a "money-making proposition" for dubious theatre troupes and employees of the directorate. "we have seen many such schemes and they have all ended up funding the wrong people," they maintained. the professed intention of the scheme is to promote amateur productions of plays that have not been performed before. "i will look at the play, the experience and history of the troupe involved and the budget. on a case by case basis, i will decide how much funds can be given to which production," kannada and culture director k.c. ramamurthy outlined. these qualifiers have raised a lot of issues. "this means, if a troupe says b.v. karanth is directing, they will get rs 1 lakh, while rajaram's direction will get rs 10,000," drama troupe antharanga's b.v. rajaram (ajit of tv serial ajitana sahasa) contended, adding: "the directorate is leaving itself open to all kinds of recommendations from ministers and mlas." endorsing the views, actor and director c.r. simha of troupe vedike said: "basing such schemes on the troupe's background will cause problems. i can easily print a handbill claiming to have performed in some corner of karnataka 20 years ago and show that as my experience. the director, with all good intentions, will not be able to individually check each of these," he pointed out. the biggest example of such scams are the already existing "letter-head" troupes that form overnight to perform plays for the directorate. "the directorate gives rs 2,500 as remuneration for which no play can be performed, let alone produced. yet, people claim to have achieved this, produced certificates and taken the cheques, with no questions asked," simha said. "it is true that amateur troupes are cash-strapped, but the directorate should stay out of funding. instead, they should improve the infrastructure in the auditoria. that will help amateur theatre," theatre persons stated.