Hyderabad: Ravindra Bharathi to stay, for now

Hyderabad: The famed Ravindra Bharathi will not be razed but will be renovated. For now, that is Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had proposed demolishing the 55-year-old structure  and raising a pearl-shaped replacement at the same site. He had approved the new design.

That plan appears to have been put on hold, in view of the lack of alternative theatres barring the Indira Priyadarshini Hall. The government has decided to put on hold the demolition plan till the multiple convention centres are built at the NTR Stadium opposite Indira Park.

The development comes just days after the government announced that the Osmania General Hospital building would not be demolished, as planned, and would be used for administrative purposes.

Ravindra Bharathi will be shut for interior repairs from March 14 to 25, and perhaps beyond.

“The proposed plan to demolish the Ravindra Bharathi and construct a new building has been dropped. Only renovation is being done. The work on the exterior is on and interiors will be taken up soon. It might be closed for about two months,” said Mr G. Kishan Rao, head of Shilparamam.

“We regret the inconvenience but you will see a refreshing new Ravindra Bharathi,” he said.

Mr Kishan Rao heads a group of experts who are overseeing the '5-crore renovation of the auditorium. The government released '1.5 crore so far.
Ravindra Bharathi was commissioned during the centenary celebrations of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

The complex with a 2,295-square yard plinth area has a main theatre with 1,050 seating capacity, a mini hall and conference halls with seating capacities between 100 and 120.

Mr Kishan Rao said the theatre would have a new sound system, green rooms, seats, upholstery, stage lights and modern facilities.

“The theatre is in a really bad shape. Even the colours are atrocious. The green room was painted green. The sound system is not so good. The entire work may take two to three months,” he said.