After a two-decade gap comes a 20-day bonanza. Russian circus is ready to thrill with a chill as it returns to Calcutta this winter. Come November 26, Rosgoscirc, the Russian state circus company, will park itself at Netaji Indoor Stadium for a 40-show extravaganza.

The star attraction will be the 40-ft diameter stage totally made of ice. Says N.P. Yadav, director, Choice Events & Trade, the company organising the show: ?The Russian state circus company offers different types of circuses like stationary, mobile, mobile zoo, water show and incredibly weird circus. As soon as we got the clearance from the Indian embassy in Moscow, we selected the ice show. The ice machine is being brought from London and it will take four days to prepare the stage.?

More than 50 performers will be flying down from Russia along with a host of animals. Four sea lions (weighing a total of 940 kg), seven domestic cats, 13 Eskimo dogs and around 100 birds are all due to reach Mumbai by November 16, before they make their way to Calcutta.

?Almost all the performers have participated in the Olympics,? says Dharmadutt Pandey, CEO of Celebrity Management Group, steering the event at the 10,000-seat stadium. ?We also applied for penguins and polar bears but they weren?t sanctioned by the governing authorities.?

Post-Calcutta, Rosgoscirc will roll on to Delhi and Mumbai for 90 more shows before heading for the United States. ?The Russian government has even discounted prices for the Indian leg of the performance. They look upon the circus as strengthening of the Indo-Russian relations,? says Pandey.

There has been no shortage of support from this city, though. ?We have got a very positive response from the Bengal government. The circus will not only be entertaining, it will be educative too,? says Yadav.

With this in mind and ?to reach out to all cross-sections of society?, the ticket prices have been kept ?very nominal?, at Rs 50 for students up to Class X and Rs 100, Rs 150, Rs 250 and Rs 300 for the rest.