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Curtain up in Bengaluru as theatre takes centre stage again
MUMBAI: The house lights dimmed, the applause swelled and Bengaluru proved, once again, that theatre still knows how to steal the show. The second edition of the Bengaluru Theatre Festival wrapped up with ringing acclaim, turning December 5 to 7 into three days of sold out halls, sharp storytelling and star turns that kept audiences leaning forward in their seats.
Staged across two of the city’s most respected venues, Good Shepherd Auditorium and the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts, BTF Season 2 brought six plays to the city, blending wit, philosophy, satire and introspection. Building on the momentum of its debut edition, the festival leaned confidently into scale, craft and recognisable names from Indian theatre and cinema.
The opening act set the tone. Lillete Dubey, Ira Dubey and Joy Sengupta kicked off the festival with Vodka & No Tonic, a clever, conversational look at love, ageing and modern relationships that mixed humour with uncomfortable truths. From there, the programme moved seamlessly between genres and moods, keeping audiences guessing and engaged.
Rajat Kapoor’s Nothing Like Lear, featuring Vinay Pathak, offered a playful yet poignant riff on Shakespeare, blending laughter with quiet reflection. That introspection gave way to sharper satire in Dhumrapaan, where Kumud Mishra, Shubhrajyoti Barat and the ensemble unpacked the absurdities of urban corporate life, prompting laughs that lingered long after the curtain call.
At PCPA, the festival turned cerebral with Naseeruddin Shah’s Einstein, a performance that balanced intellectual brilliance with emotional vulnerability, bringing the famed physicist off the textbook page and onto the stage as a deeply human figure. The festival closed on an intimate note with Anupam Kher’s solo act Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, a reflective, humorous exploration of life’s unpredictability that struck a personal chord with many in the audience.
The Bengaluru Theatre Festival forms part of Alchemist Live’s wider theatre circuit, which also includes the Delhi Theatre Festival and the Hyderabad Theatre Festival. With packed houses across all three days and strong word of mouth following every performance, BTF Season 2 did more than entertain. It reaffirmed Bengaluru’s appetite for live performance and raised expectations for what the next curtain up moment might bring.
eNews
Paisabazaar launches Credit Premier League 2.0
Nationwide campaign rewards highest credit scores with Rs 1 lakh top prize.
MUMBAI: When credit scores become a national league, even your CIBIL report starts feeling like it’s playing in the IPL and Paisabazaar has just kicked off the second season. Paisabazaar, India’s leading marketplace for financial products and the country’s largest free credit score platform, has announced the return of the Credit Premier League (CPL) 2.0, a fun, nationwide initiative to recognise and reward individuals with the highest credit scores.
Building on the success of the first edition, CPL 2.0 introduces higher rewards and broader participation. The individual(s) with the highest credit score in the country will win Rs 1 lakh, while state champions will each receive Rs 10,000. Additionally, all participants from the winning state, the one with the highest average credit score will also be rewarded.
All winnings will be credited directly to winners’ PB Wallet, allowing them to pay credit card bills, recharge mobiles, or settle utility bills seamlessly on the Paisabazaar platform.
Paisabazaar CEO Santosh Agarwal said the campaign aims to make credit awareness more engaging and mainstream. “With CPL, we are bringing together engagement, gamification and rewards to make conversations around credit scores more mainstream,” he noted. “Our focus remains on building a financially aware and credit-healthy Bharat.”
The first edition of CPL saw over 5.5 million participants, with the highest individual score touching 861. Delhi recorded the highest average credit score of 746.
Consumers can participate simply by checking their free credit score on the Paisabazaar platform or app. The CPL leaderboard and rankings will be available exclusively on the Paisabazaar App.
In a country where financial dreams are serious business, Paisabazaar has found a smart way to turn credit scores into an exciting game – because when your financial health gets rewarded, everyone wants to play.
