Props rule in Jalandhar

Ramlila in Jalandhar is never star-studded. There are no fancy stalls put up along the venue to draw bigger crowds. But still there are four-five Ramlila groups that are popular because of their vibrant depictions of various scenes, bringing out the essence of Ramayana. These popular venues include Basti Sheikh, Jalandhar Cantt, Burlton Park and Partap Bagh. The Ramlila presentation at Basti Sheikh stands out, where a bunch of 40-50 middle-aged men have formed Jai Mahabir Club and give their best performance.

The club team is a bunch of businessmen, who spare five-six hours daily from their busy schedules to plan, prepare and perform the shows every evening. “Tonight, we shall have the maximum viewers for we are going to depict the scene of Laxman Murchha. I will be playing the role of Mahabir and will bring the booti to cure Laxman,” said Sunil Shoor, a jeweller by profession, who plays the roles of Dashrath and Mahabir in the Ramlila every year. A gathering of 800-1000 people, mostly families, assemble around the venue at 10 pm daily to watch the show.

A very interesting part of the Ramlila organised by this group is the use of Pushpak Viman. “We have created this flying chariot of Ravan for Sita haran by welding various iron railings and covering it with wooden planks. There is a loud applause when we bring such props in our show and the kids watch it with more enthusiasm. We used it yesterday in our show and have kept it back for use in the coming year,” said Sanjeev Sondhi, who directed the show, where Vicky Sharma plays Ram, Harsh Sondhi Laxman and Ravi Sondhi Sita.