Appearing jazzy on the stage is not so easy for the iconic heroes. To allow the actor feel like the character he is playing, costume plays an important role and this is where the youths of the holy city are hitting at these days. In Ramlila shows staged at various places in the district, the Ramlila of Ramnagar is the most hit amongst the people with the jazzy realistic costumes worn by the characters. These shows begin 15 days before Dushehra.
Costume plays a major part in making the character realistic and it can even prove to be quite a stressful task, says the young professional, aged around 23 years, Bharat Sharma, who plays the role of Rama.
It is so important for the dress and the ornaments to be perfect since the dress worn by the actor portrays the liveliness of the character. Dialogues are delivered in the right spirit and action when the character himself feels like having taken the garb of a deity.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Bharat Sharma who is enacting as Rama, said, “It literally weighs to play the character of incarnation of lord Vishnu- lord Rama. The ‘gada’ (club) weighs a few kilos and the character enacting Sita has to carry lehenga (gown) weighing 10 kgs.” Here, the roles of female characters are also performed by the males. A college going youth, Shivam Brahm, a working professional in Pepsi Cola, plays the role of lakshman and character of Sita is performed by Manish Sharma, a Class VII student.
These youths have kept the Indian traditions alive in spite of all odds and financial crunch. The team members collect donations from people and an average Ram lila costs around Rs four lakhs. “The mukut which I wore in the character of Rama costs nearly Rs 5000. This year, bejewelled costumes of characters and special props used in the procession of 'Shiv Barat' carried out on Saturday traversing through major parts of the city further pumped up the cost of the show. Because of the imaginative styling and dresses of the characters, this Ram lila of Ramnagar is very popular. Cost of the food has also gone up and serving dinner to the 25 characters who are acting daily for a fortnight means a lot,” says one of the Ramlila committee members.