Circus artistes cheer Shahrukh

SURAT, Feb 21: He always wanted to reach for the stars. And he did, with a little help from Apollo Circus. When Shahrukh Khan graduated f...

SURAT, Feb 21: He always wanted to reach for the stars. And he did, with a little help from Apollo Circus. When Shahrukh Khan graduated from Circus ki Duniya on the small screen to the silver screen with flying colours, the Apollo artistes were cheering whole-heartedly from the sidelines.

More than 10 years later, as Khan and his one-time co-stars from the circus balance precariously on two ends of the entertainment scale, the cheers haven’t flagged even a little bit. But Khan’s soaring career graph provides a stark contrast to the dipping fortunes of circuses everywhere that, ironically, have lost part of their spectators to television and cinema.

The superstar, however, remains indebted to the circus he spent nine months with and, till some time ago, made it a point to call on the artistes if they happened to be in the town where he was shooting. Things have changed of late, but the Circus ki duniya understands.

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“His success has not outgrown his sensitivity. But he will be mobbed if he comes here. That’s why he excused himself when I called on him in Mumbai recently”, circus owner Ranjan Das loyally defends the Khan.

“Whenever he was late at work, he would sleep in the tent and eat what we offered. He even played volleyball with us,” says manager A Chandran, recalling how Khan wrangled a short role for him in the serial. “He still remembers us by our first name”, adds an artiste.

While Khan performs a large number of his breath-taking stunts on screen nowadays, the circus artistes remember that when he was shooting for the serial, there was little he could do on his own. “I taught him the sideways hand-jump”’, recalls Chandran.

But there’s no ill-feeling that Khan made it big, while the circus artists are exactly where they were. “None of us feel jealous. He can’t do what we can and we can’t do what he can”, says an artiste. “Nor did Shahrukh’s success inspire any of us to try our luck in Bollywood.”

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Khan’s success has, however, helped the circus in a way. Wherever the circus travels, the handbills and publicity material proudly announce the association with the reigning superstar: “TV serial Circus ki Duniya ke Shahrukh ki circus, Apollo Circus”.

The circus, which opened in Surat on Friday, brings with it a staff of about 300, including artistes, six each of elephants and horses, eight lions and a tiger. Their feed and other overheads ensure that the daily expenditure hovers around Rs 40,000. “We have to work throughout the year to make ends meet”, says promoter P N Desai, listing factors like climate, political situation and inflation that make life difficult “even for those who have been in the business for decades”.

The owners and artistes are also bitter about the increasing government interference in their trade. “Circus is healthy entertainment. Only those who are healthy can enjoy themselves with live performances by men and animals,” says Desai.

Incidentally, Apollo also has the distinction of being possibly the only Indian circus to tour Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia on government support. But that was in the past. As things stand now, they count their association with Khan as one of their proudest.