Gurgaon, the Millennium City, is going to be the new cultural hotspot as Kingdom of Dreams, India’s answer to Broadway, starts its reign this month. Spread across 5.66 acres, it is set to redefine the entertainment experience. A multi-crore initiative by the Great Indian Nautanki Company, a joint venture between Wizcraft International Entertainment and Apra Group of Companies, it also enjoys the support of the Haryana government and is going to be the “cultural hub” for Gurgaon residents.
Touted as India’s first entertainment and leisure destination, it is all set to be launched in the end of July.
The centre will serve as the multi-purpose venue for various media of entertainment and art. The cultural multiplex will have a section called “Culture Gully” (lane), showcasing theatre auditoriums of the Broadway scale. The main auditorium, Nautanki Mahal, will have around 800-seats and will be equipped with various equipments required for the large-scale musical sagas and historical plays. Staging of shows of internationally-acclaimed classics, such as the Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King, is going to be a reality in India, thanks to Nautanki Mahal.
National Award-winning actor Darshan Jariwala, who revived the charisma of Gandhi on the silver screen in Gandhi, My Father, is directing the opening show for the centre. “I have been engaged as a drama director for this show. It is going to be a musically-rich Bollywood saga on the stage. Western theatre director David Freeman is the captain of the ship. Mumbai-based theatre director Vikrant Pawar is also sharing the creative responsibility with me. We are all on the learning curve of the project. Let’s see how the entire concept evolves,” says Jariwala.
“This auditorium is like having a hardware which can support superb software. Imagine a show based on Ramayana on stage with Jatayu and Ravana fighting in the sky just above the audience. It has extra-large screens, modern technical equipments and support system to dig out the hidden jewels inside our fables and folklores. A theatre director, who is normally conditioned to work with limited resources, can feel sky is the limit while projecting the dramatic elements of his characters,” he says.
Highlighting the importance of cultural exchange, Jariwala says, “We, as a theatre community, have not been able to invite superhit operas in India due to the lack of high-quality auditoriums. Initiatives like the Kingdom of Dreams will also play the catalyst in exchange of cultural elements. Internationally-acclaimed shows will be showcased here and reciprocally Indian directors will also get a chance to perform abroad. It will open the Indian theatre sector to the international market and will help making it self-sufficient.”
Worrying about the domination of craft over the text, he says: “The balance between the craft and Indian sensibility has to be achieved. It has to be high-voltage drama with emotional truth in it. The centre will also have a community theatre auditorium with the capacity to accommodate around 250 people. It will be used in the process of the development of the regional drama.”
Though the concept like the Kingdom of Dreams will open new gates of creativity, it also poses a serious question: Will the market force give enough space for addressing the basic concerns of the Indian society?