Revive theatre, make it an agent of social change: Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu

Hyderabad: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has called for revival of drama, stage plays and theatre and be made popular on the same footing as cinema. Observing that stage plays truthfully mirror the happenings in society, he stressed the need for public to patronise and promote this art form.

Referring to historic role played by theatre in bringing out awareness on social evils like dowry, Naidu noted that it still has the potential to eliminate many discriminatory practices in society and suggested that it could be used as an agent of social change.

The V-P observed that drama and folk artistes can play a key role in bringing movements like 'Swachh Bharat' closer to people. He participated in 'Nataka Sahityotsavam' here and released six volumes of a book containing popular Telugu plays titled, Telugu Prasiddha Natakalu.

Naidu emphasised that theatre art form needs to reinvent to attract audience, particularly the younger generation. He recalled the prominent role played by stage plays during the freedom struggle in bringing about political and social consciousness among people, including leaders like Gandhiji, who was inspired by 'Satya Harishchandra' in his childhood.

The Vice-President suggested that apart from government patronage, private organisations, civil society and especially private TV channels should come forward to promote theatre. He called upon schools and colleges to provide exposure to children to various art forms and encourage them to take up these activities as part of their curriculum. 'This will bring about social awareness in children and inculcate leadership qualities in them," Naidu added. He appreciated the initiative of Aravinda Arts and TANA Publishers for bringing out the compilation of 100 famous Telugu plays between 1880 and 2020, through the six volumes of the book. He called for more such efforts to popularise theatre in the country. State government adviser Dr K V Ramanachari, former Deputy Speaker of AP Assembly Mandali Buddha Prasad, Andhra Nataka Kala Parishad president Bollineni Krishnaiah, TANA managing vice-president Sringavarapu Niranjan, editors of the book, Valluri Sivaprasad and Gangotri Sai, attended.