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With the passing of Rambo Circus's founder, those close to him a legacy forward
Updated On: 06 November, 2022 09:21 AM IST | Mumbai | Aastha Atray Banan
Iconic Rambo Circus founder Panachamuttil Thomas Dilip passes away to leave behind a legacy that his team of performers say is a tough one to match
Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
It was in Vengurla, a small town in Maharashtra, that Philip became Dilip, perhaps a Konkani twist on the Anglican name. As head of the Shiv Sena shakha, he also didn’t want to ruffle any feathers with his religious background. His son, Sujith Dilip, tells us he was originally from somewhere in Kerala. “He was a naughty child, so he was sent to St Patrick’s in Pune,” Sujith tells us over the phone from Pune. “But whenever he came back, he would manage a dilapidated circus in Vengurla. That’s where his journey as a showman started. He first started a travelling carnival called Johnson and Johnson.”
It eventually led to Dilip starting Rambo Circus in the 1980s—a mix of a few other circuses he bought with names such as Victoria and Great Oriental. “He was looking for a name that defined strength,” says Sujith. Dilip passed away on October 27, when Rambo’s performers were putting up a show at St Andrews auditorium in Bandra. When the performers on stage found out, they held a moment of silence and went on with the show… as Dilip would have wanted.
This writer last saw Rambo Circus in 2017 when they were set up at Bandra. This time we experienced it in Borivli West on a Thursday afternoon.
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