In today’s technology-driven world, most forms of art are almost forgotten. Theatre plays would also be among them if not for theatre lovers like Udaya Bhanu Garikipati. Let’s dive into his story and discover his contribution to enhancing this vintage entertainment medium.

Udayabhanu’s Bhoomika Theatre stages plays primarily for children. Its tagline is “Theatre group with a difference.” You must read the story until the last word to determine the difference.

Udayabhanu Garikapati’s tireless efforts towards theatre for children

Udayabhanu aims to make theatre a popular medium of entertainment. Why children? Udayabhanu has a well-thought-out and futuristic answer. He seeks to develop a love for theatre plays in children to create the finest actors and appreciative audiences of the future. In his journey, he conducted plays for children and adults. Before focussing entirely on children, Bhoomika Theatre also staged some plays for adults. Dochevarevaru Ra! is one such play. It is an excellent adaptation of a play by an Italian playwright, and Nobel Laureate, Dario Fo. Charanadasu is another popular play by Bhoomika (for children). It has bagged the prestigious 3 Nandi Awards in 2020. It was staged about more than  50 shows entertaining kids thoroughly. They revived the play again and staged it for children in November 2024.

Did you know? A two-hour play requires 150 hours of background work. If it is a play in a different language, the seamless translation into Telugu itself requires somewhere between one to two months. The efforts in theatre plays are endless. The reward, however, does not match the efforts.

Bhoomika – The theatre group with a difference

With a passion for entertaining and inspiring children, Bhoomika Theatre does more than just organize plays. It has storytelling programs at Our Sacred Space in Hyderabad every Sunday. In this experience, Udaya Bhanu notes that children are an honest audience. Adults might hesitate to give negative feedback but kids don’t. They express disinterest either by words or by actions. To date, Bhoomika has done 67 storytelling programs for free, successfully. Bhoomika’s actors go to schools, birthday parties, and other gatherings to narrate interesting stories to children. Although parents and children want such modes of entertainment, Udaya Bhanu says there is difficulty connecting both parties because of the geographic vastness of Hyderabad and the obstacles encountered when traveling to different cities.

Art has always had these financial struggles in a commercial society. Udaya Bhanu has found an interesting way to prevent Bhoomika Theatre from fading away. Bhoomika is an acting school too. It stands apart by being effective, efficient, and affordable. Unlike the outrageously expensive acting schools in Hyderabad today, Bhoomika charges only 20,000 rupees and churns out fine actors in just three months. It has produced 21 batches of captivating actors so far. If you ever happen to go to Bhoomika Theatre as a student, you will see that it is drastically different from the famous acting schools in town. Where others focus on making money, Bhoomika is keen on producing great actors. This is probably one of the reasons why absenteeism and late coming are dealt with strictly here. There’s a fine for each of these, compelling students to make it to class every day and be on time. Does a fee suffice to get admission at Bhoomika? No! An aspirant must go through an interview to secure a seat there. Udaya Bhanu gets an insight into the intelligence of a person seeking admission during this interview. Is the person interested in theatre? Will he/she form a long-term relationship with theatre arts? These are a couple of questions Udaya Bhanu tries to find answers to.

What makes Bhoomika interesting in a film-driven world?

Many of you may be wondering whether a theatre play or a storytelling session can achieve the ultimate goal of effective entertainment. Udaya Bhanu has an impressive answer to this. He told HatkeStory about a seven-year-old girl who has been a regular visitor to Bhoomika and enjoys it a lot. Her mother says “The days she attends storytelling are her screen-free days. She doesn’t ask for the mobile phone or the iPad on that day.” A proud Udaya Bhanu said he was very pleased with the outcome and did not expect this at all.

The storytelling theatre is highly interactive and is performed at the level of the audience. Udayabhanu feels that a stage creates a disconnect. To connect even better with the kids, Bhoomika’s actors encourage kids to interrupt the act at any point and have their doubts (if any) cleared. It’s not just the unique approach to entertainment and storytelling. Their stories are unique too. These are not stories with a moral where the audience listens passively. Udayabhanu believes that teaching morals is what a teacher does. Bhoomika is purely for entertainment. They are fun, engaging, and memorable. They aim to allow the audience to grasp an understanding of the story based on their knowledge, experience, and personality.

What else is unique about Udayabhanu’s Bhoomika? Its actors engage the kids in theatre games and activities for 40 minutes before the storytelling begins.

Bhoomika’s uniqueness does not end here. Unlike most theatre groups, it doesn’t participate in highly regarded drama competitions in both Telugu states. The reason is interesting, too. Udayabhanu focuses on spending all the time and resources on putting up a great stage play instead of working for a prize that barely adds value to the theatre group’s enhancement.

Bhoomika will soon have its own children’s theatre club. The purpose of this club will be to bring children to the stage and have them perform. The plan is to have them over twice a week (and more days during vacation) and train them to perform.

What’s in theatre plays for kids?

 Udaya Bhanu’s knowledge of theatre and its impact on children is much deeper than you and I can imagine. So, like me, if you too are wondering how theatre can help kids, you must read further.

The ardent believer in theatre enthusiastically points out that theatre plays enhance a child’s imagination, contribute to effective collaboration for a common goal, help children overcome their hesitation to meet and talk to others and strengthen their academic growth.

The state of theatre arts in India

Talking about the sad state of theatre in India, Udaya Bhanu regretfully says that only 15 or 20 artists among the 400 trained at Bhoomika are working in theatre. The rest have gone in search of a place in the movies and other popular media. As the Vice President of the Indian chapter of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, he traveled to South Africa and South Korea among other countries, and saw how theatre is treated and recognized in the West. Dedicated professionals are working at and promoting theatre. He goes on to say that the difference in approach to theatre or life, in general, is vast in India and the western part of the world. In the West, people take up movies when they find time to work in theatre plays. However, in India, it is the other way around. Even in other professions, Indians usually take up jobs that they think will give them a good income. Turning passion into a profession seems to be rare and mostly a thing of the West.

An insight into Udaya Bhanu’s life

Our protagonist, however, is different from the rest of India. He pursued his passion and is making a career out of it. After retiring from the Indian Railways in 2013, he turned towards his passion. Udaya Bhanu says “I acted in Railways and worked in the theatre.” His love for theatre is so deep that he has been rejecting offers to be part of films. He feels that he loses control over his performance, technique, and the context in which his performance is used. With his kids settled in their jobs in the IT industry, Uday Bhanu and his wife live a comfortable and happy life in their own house with their pensions. This gives him a lot of scope to focus on doing what he loves the most – enhancing theatre arts.

This love for theatre is not new. He has been passionate about theatre arts since his intermediate days when he worked with many theatre groups in Vijayawada (his hometown). However, when he wanted to pursue a career in theatre arts, no one guided him. His younger years were not easy for Uday Bhanu. His father passed away right after his 11th grade, and as the eldest of eight siblings, it was his responsibility to run the house.

 So, he took up a regular course to graduate like millions in our country.

The lack of passion delayed the process and it took him much longer to finish a simple three-year course. Despite difficulties, Udaya Bhanu did not give up on theatre. He continued in whatever capacity he could until he got a job in the Indian Railways and moved to Hyderabad. In all these years his mother, and later his wife, have been the strongest pillars of support.

After getting a job in the Indian Railways, Uday Bhanu pursued a PG Diploma in Theatre Arts, fighting a tough battle between work and education while sacrificing personal time with his wife and kids. Today, this kind of passion for theatre arts has become extremely scarce. When his passion increased with time, Udaya Bhanu established the Bhoomika Theatre in 1989.

Theatre is the way forward

Is theatre in India a rewarding career? Udaya Bhanu says it is. The only thing one must remember is that there are no shortcuts to success in theatre arts. His friends in Mumbai and Delhi earn as much as the people in the corporate world, so he says it is possible to succeed in the theatre world, too. What’s holding people back from achieving success? Their need for quick money and lack of motivation to work hard.

Another popular opinion is that theatre actors are loud whereas film actors are subtle. To this, Udaya Bhanu says that an intelligent actor can adapt seamlessly according to the need. He even gave an example of fine actors in the Kannada and Telugu film industries.

On this unexplored journey into theatre arts, Udaya Bhanu throws light on the glaring difference between theatre and film. To start with, he says theatre is an actor’s communication medium whereas a film is a director’s medium. In a film, the director is the captain of the ship who decides on things like – how a shot should be taken. Which part of the scene should be retained and what should be cut? The audience sees the director’s perspective of the story in a film. In contrast, an actor directly communicates with his/her audience creating an instant impact on them.

Interestingly, no two stage performances (even those based on the same theme with the same actors) are the same. Live interaction relies heavily on multiple factors, ranging from the resources available to stage the performance to an actor’s mood on that particular day. Udaya Bhanu says this is the strength of theatre.

Unlike in movies, an actor can enhance his or her expressions or mode of dialogue delivery to elicit a particular reaction in his or her audience in a theatre performance. He or she can keep trying to improve in the same scene during multiple performances.

Udaya Bhanu and his journey are surely inspiring. With the kind of enthusiasm he displays, one could never guess that this is the story of a 71-year-old man. Hatke Story hopes that you will think of Bhoomika, the next time your little one complains of boredom.