Oldest Indian circus fails to interest city

Although there is a little improvement in the sale of tickets during government holidays,the residents are not turning up at the Circus shows during the weekdays. The number of spectators in different seating lots depends on the rate list of the tickets. Since most of the spectators prefer the seats worth Rs 50,the Rs 200 lot almost remains vacant. There are a few takers for the Rs 100 seating lot.

“We had asked the MC for a ground in either Sector 17 or 34 but were provided a spot in this distant corner of the tricity. Had we got any place out of the two,our sales would have been much better,” said Dilip Nath Nayar,one of the owners of the Great Bombay Circus showing at the Housing Board ground.

Nayar further says that running Circus shows in the tricity is much more expensive than in the other cities. “While the cost of showing at the Church Gate in Mumbai is only Rs 2500 per day,there are no charges for the preparatory days. But here,we are getting charged Rs 6000 per day excluding the tax. Moreover,we also had to pay for the preparatory days during which we carried out the levelling and rectification of the ground,” Nayar elaborated.

Even the performers at the Circus are missing an extended applause due to a lack of enthusiasm among the spectators. While most of the artistes try their best to extract maximum number of claps from the audience,the jokers can be seen making a great effort to cheer it up.

“We have performed in most of the states of India including Gujarat,Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh and Kerala and have been getting a tremendous response over there. But here,the audience is not very keen about watching the Circus shows,” said one of the jugglers at the Circus. The artistes will be moving to Bhatinda after performing their last show in the tricity on April 15.