Love for Kannada theatre propels me to excel, says Chaya Bhargavi

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: It is rightly said that you can never take art away from an artist as it is the only means of survival for most artists. A lawyer holding a master’s degree in Kannada, Chaya Bhargavi has contributed to the local Kannada art scene by redefining theatre with dance and music. A popular face as a theatre actor, director, costume designer, choreographer, and scriptwriter, Chaya is versatility defined.

She was chosen as the best director for a state-level drama for her play, ‘Shoodra Tapasvi’ in a competition organised by Mysore Bank in 2008, followed by the overall best actress award for her play ‘Raakshasas’ in 2008. She also won the best actress award at the ‘Maduve Hennu’, state level drama competition ‘Ranga Bhoomi Udupi in 2011’.

With a diploma in theater from Abinaya Taranga in 2000, her early days in school got her a prominent name due to her excellent debating skills and her involvement in theatre and dance. Chaya has since then contributed and recreated roles in the local Kannada art, her themes based on Panchatantra, giving a lot of social messages with lots of dance with drama.

“I like to read scripts by new writers and inculcate them in plays. I teach theatre in all government schools. For the last 15 years, I have been working with school children and more than 700 children have performed on Independence Day and Republic Day programmes under my guidance.”

Chaya is associated with many private and government schools where she teaches theatre in Kannada, Hindi, English and Telugu but shares that most of her work is based in Kannada language and embodied in the state’s rich artistic culture.