Rahul Kamboj. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, April 10: Thespians like Rustam Bharucha and Sanjana Kapoor are associated with London International Festival of Theatre and now it is the turn of a Jamshedpur youth to join their ranks.

Meet Rahul Kamboj, a former student of Jam- shedpur’s Loyola School, who has been recently invited by London International Festival of Theatre for a two-month-long internship programme.

Rahul is currently pursuing his MBA in mass media from Foundation for Liberation and Management Education (FLAME), Pune.

A rare achievement in all aspects, for Rahul is one of the two students from India who has been invited for the summer internship.

“A team from the Pune institute would soon leave for London to take part in the theatre festival and it was during the pre-negotiation period with them that they offered to train Indian students. It was then that my college reco- mmended my name,” said Rahul who graduated from H.R. College, Mumbai, in 2007.

An annual event in the London theatre circuit, the London International Festival of Theatre is engaged in the promotion of offbeat and parallel theatre in the country.

Troupes from all over the world take part in the festival, which is held from May to July, at various parts of the UK.

But it was not easy for the 21-year-old to get this opportunity, as he had to undergo gruelling interviews before getting selected.

“I had to go through long telephonic and online interviews before being selected,” said Rahul.

“This break would give students a chance to work with leading theatre groups from all over the world and under various departments,” said Prasad Varanase, the associate dean at the B-school and Rahul’s mentor.

The internship will start from May 19 to July 11.

Once in London, the boy would be working with administration and the production team of London International Festival of Theatre.

“London International Festival of Theatre is recognised as one of the world’s leading art festi- vals which has introdu- ced theatre in over 60 countries since 1981. Though the practice was stopped for about two years in between, from this year they have revived the tradition of world theatre festival,” added Rahul.

Though set for an international experience, this is definitely not Rahul’s first stint with showbiz.

A few months into the field of mass media, Rahul has already participated in a number of plays and also at Goa International Film Festival in 2007 and Pune International Film Festival in 2008 as part of the management team.