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

The Rambo Circus team after a performance

Rambo Circus and its staff have set an inspirational testimony for the common person - never 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 out-of-the-box thinking made it sail through the tough time.

The organisers introduced the never before concepts in circus… 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 circuses/performers participating from around the world.

Biju Pushkaran Nair has been working with Rambo Circus for more than 25 years

Interestingly, 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. mid-day 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 performers' battle with the virus.

Never expected

Rambo Circus Director Sujit Dilip Panachamuttil, 49, confirmed the development hours before he and two of his circus performers - clown Biju Pushkaran Nair, 51 and multi-talented artiste Pappu Beniwal - took their flight from Mumbai to Monte Carlo, Monaco, on January 15.

"I 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 Carlo - an 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 ago)."

A Rambo Circus show organised inside an auditorium

According to Sujit, the federation (Monte Carlo) gives a platform to promote circuses and celebrate the creative talent of circus performers by organising a 6-day-long international circus festival in Monaco, which has attracted top performers from across the world for over four decades.

Sujit added, "In 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 over."

‘Mumbaikars, Maharashtra kept us going during COVID'

"Mumbaikars 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 mid-day 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 easy," recalled Sujit.

Sujit Dilip Panachamuttil, director, Rambo Circus

"We 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 places," said Sujit.

Call from ministry

According 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. "I initially presumed it to be a fake phone call, thinking that someone tried to prank me," recalled Sujit.

"But 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 ‘Hunnar Haat' 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 crowds," Sujit said.

"The 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 event," Sujit added.

From tent to auditorium

Sujit said once minorities minister Naqui moved out of the post, the ‘Hunnar Haat' contract also came to an end. "The 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 auditorium/theatre for over two years, and it is getting a good response," said Sujit.

When asked if the traditional tent circus was better than the auditorium, Sujit said, "Tent circus is our traditional form of circus which has its own pros and cons. But for the middle-class and higher-middle class, they find the auditorium is better… from the décor, comfort and security aspects to ambience and air-conditioning. The tickets for a tent show may be priced between R200 to R800, but for auditoriums, it may vary from R350 to Rs 2500."

Further, Sujit said the tent gives the freedom to perform many aerial and high-risk activities, but in the auditorium, they are restricted to floor performances. "Moreover, tents are booked for a month to 45 days, but it is very expensive to rent out an auditorium/theatre and we cannot afford it for more than a week," Sujit said.

Happy and excited

"The circus is our life and we are excited that our sir (Sujit) took Rambo Circus to the international level - something 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 too," Biju and Pappu said while speaking with mid-day.

Biju hails from Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala and is associated with Rambo Circus for over 25 years. "I 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 festival," said Biju.

The history of Rambo Circus

Rambo Circus was born on January 26, 1991, in Saras Baug, Pune, by the merging of three well-known circuses - Arena 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 region.

It once employed 300 staff and had wild animals including a tiger, 24 lions, four elephants and two chimpanzees. "After restrictions were imposed on wild animals at circuses in 1995-1996, the tigers and lions were sent to Tirupati Zoo, where they eventually passed away. The elephants - Champa, Nitya, Sarso, and Annar - are cared for at Jamnagar, by Reliance Industries. One chimpanzee died earlier while the other named Suzi died at Hyderabad Zoo three years ago," Sujit said.