How NSD 25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav Celebrated in All 7 Continents

New Delhi [India], March 02: The National School of Drama (NSD), an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, has successfully taken its flagship theatre festival, the 25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) 2026, to all 7 continents, presenting theatrical performances in 15 countries including Canada, New Zealand, England, Mauritius, Qatar, Suriname and even in the continent of Antarctica in -6 Degree Centigrade temperature — establishing an unprecedented global celebration of the international theatre festival.

Creating History Antarctica Resonates with Vande Mataram along with Performance on the Bhagavad Gita

The BRM 2026 celebration, which commenced with its first theatrical production at the NSD Campus in New Delhi on 27 January 2026 with the play Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram, written by Nishant Bharti and directed by Dr. Rekha Mehra, organised its first international edition on 31 January 2026 with seven theatrical productions at Arya Samaj Mandir, Mississauga, Canada, presented by Radio Dhishum, Toronto, Canada.

The BRM 2026 theatre festival’s foreign performances reached a new high when a team of Indian scientists working for National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Antarctica came forward in participating in the festival on 13 February. The team came forward not only in support of presenting a theatrical performance by enacting the essence of Bhagwat Gita through the enlightening dialogues between Arjun And Shri Krishna, but also celebrated the 150 year journey of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ through a chorus . The scientists are working as part of the Indian Antarctic Programme at Maitri Station.

Speaking in this context, Shri Chittaranjan Tripathy, Director, NSD, said: “With its vast reach and worldwide acceptance, the 25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav has now transformed into an Indian festival rather than remaining only a theatre festival of the National School of Drama. BRM 2026 is the world’s largest international theatre festival, not only in terms of its national and international expansion but also because it stands for inclusive theatre—embracing diverse genres, performance styles, and productions featuring artists from different sections of society. This is something every Indian can be proud of.”

The Canada edition of BRM 2026 featured the plays Doctor Wants to Talk to You, Bhasha, Laundry Bag, Putra Ka Prashna, Mai Kya Karun, Freebies, Kiska Tyag Bada, directed by Somya Mishra, Sachin Rampal, Yogeshwari Konde and Gargi Dhamija.

In addition, the play ‘Sapnon Ki Udan,’ was staged recently at the Indian Culture Centre in Qatar under the aegis of Embassy of India, Qatar. The BRM 2026 Dubai edition kicked off with the Marathi play The Marathi play Kaamachi, written and directed by Dr. Nitin Upadhye, presented by the group ‘Natak Mandali’.  The same group from Dubai also staged ‘Bharatiya Bhojanalaya’ on 20 February in Abu Dhabi and Sajah with support from the Embassy of India, UAE.

Similarly, the Vaishwik Hindishala Sansthan from Germany presented the play ‘Teen Rang: Ek Pehchan’ at Colon, directed by D. Shipra Shilpi Saxena.

The play ‘Narshimha’ was staged in Suriname in South America. The other performances took place in places like Atlanta in Georgia, the Netherlands and Tanzania. In Russia too, a theatre workshop was organised as part of the BRM 2026.

The 25th BRM 2026 festival also witnessed vibrant participation of more than 1,000 children performers through Jashne Bachpan and nearly 400 tribal artistes who showcased indigenous and folk traditions as part of the AdiRang Theatre Festival. Adding further depth were 33 plays helmed by women directors, 19 book launches and discussions, and a memorial session dedicated to Shri Daya Prakash Sinha. In total, BRM brought together close to 5,000 artistes, nearly 1,000 technicians and more than 10,000 behind-the-scenes workers, including coordinators, administrative teams, designers, craftsmen, carpenters, painters, photographers and other support staff.

NSD has been continuously working towards the spread and democratisation of theatre. Recently, it launched Rang Akash, internet radio to promote theatre along with launching its OTT platform Natyam to avail some of its prized productions to theatre lovers across the nation.

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