Page 63 - 15SEPT2018E

Q&A

DINESH SINGH of the most frequently performed bal-
ENTREPRENEUR lets across the world. Audiences can
expect a thrilling live experience full of
Talking entertainment with powerful music and performances in
the ballet format.
‘Swan Lake’ producer Dinesh Singh Tell us about Navrasa Duende’s plan
to launch its own theatre production,
R K Lakshman’s Common Man, and
the political satire it will feature.
For our first in-house theatre produc-
tion, R K Laxman’s Common Man goes
A VENTURE in the realm of arts and ‘Right to the Centre’ — a social and politi-
entertainment, Navrasa Duende endeavours cal satire that will be written, produced ternational audiences. We are doing sical dance or musical events have a
to create, manage and promote unique and directed in-house. The play picks up this through events encompassing di- more niche appeal and there have not
productions of live entertainment across social and political themes from across verse media like cinema, music, thea- been any drastic changes in this sce-
countries in a wholesome way, covering the globe to draw humour and satire tre, and even visual arts like cartooning. nario. However, live entertainment
music, dance, theatre, cinema, visual arts, which can find relevance in any part platforms are gradually helping to take
literature, and tourism, sometimes blending of the world. ‘RK Laxman’s Common Are classical dance forms gaining classical dance to the mainstream by
multiple genres. neha kirpal caught up Man’ can be relevant in any political or more relevance over contemporary properly scaling up production values
with its Founder, Dinesh Singh, who spoke social milieu. dance forms with the help of live or experimental elements and effective
to us about Navrasa Duende’s successful The play uses a unique fusion of car- entertainment platforms? Tell our advertisement campaigns.
events in the past, what to look forward to tooning, ballet, opera and cinematic readers more about this.
in the future and the road ahead for the live techniques in a way that has never been Are international companies
entertainment platform in India. used before. increasingly seeing more
The production is expected to appeal ‘The World opportunities in the Indian
EDITED EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW • to the mature theatre audience across entertainment industry?
the globe and is likely to be staged in Classic Movie As urban audiences are increasingly
multiple cities of India, the US, UK and exposed to global entertainment, India
Tell us about some of Navrasa other countries. Festival was our has seen a growth of live entertain-
Duende’s events in India in the The play will be a befitting tribute to second event. The ment shows and festivals produced
recent past. What has the response enjoyed the show and we are getting Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, RK Laxman’s common man, and his in- by international companies over the
been like? requests from all major cities to stage the Victor Fleming, Marcel Carne, Norman nocent but most lethal and sharp witti- idea behind the years. Such events not only bring inter-
Producing ‘Swan Lake’ was a delight- production. Jewison and David Lean. This year’s cism and astute social and political com- festival was to offer national artists to the country, but also
ful and overwhelming experience for us. The World Classic Movie Festival festival got an even better response mentary, which his endless admirers draw audiences from across India as
Despite ballet being a relatively lesser was our second event (after ‘My Jour- with near houseful screenings across (including those he cartooned). Several Indian audiences a well as other parts of the world.
known performing art in India, both the ney’, an intimate evening with Pandit all three days. Besides Turner Classic people will be able to identify with it, and glimpse into classic The presence of international en-
productions received a phenomenal Jasraj), and our first event on cinema. Movies, this is a one-of-its-kind movie it will revive his memories globally in a tertainment companies is becoming
response. We had maximum sold-out The idea behind the festival was to offer festival in the world. big way too. world cinema’ more prominent in the digital space
shows during the first production in Sep- Indian audiences a glimpse into clas- and in film production. Global giants
tember 2017 in New Delhi as well as the sic world cinema. We chose two direc- Please share details of some of the In what way has Navrasa Duende like Disney and Netflix, for instance,
multi-city tour across Mumbai, New Del- tors from the classic age of Hollywood, upcoming events and their highlights been strengthening cultural The classical art forms including dance have invested heavily into the Indian
hi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad this year. The Alfred Hitchcock and Frank Capra, and that Indian audiences can look relations between nations by is a part of every country’s tradition entertainment industry, which only
Royal Russian Ballet’s troupe of 46 ex- showcased two of the best known works forward to. promoting the arts and entertaining and remain a source of inspiration for goes to show the massive potential that
tremely talented artistes performed the of each. The event was met with much As part of the ongoing collaboration audiences through its carnivals and contemporary dance forms. Most the- the market has.
classic ballet, which was choreographed enthusiasm from audiences of all ages with the Royal Russian Ballet, we have festivals? atrical commercial successes use the However, the Indian live entertain-
by Vladimir Troschenko and directed by who expressed their appreciation for the two productions on the floor — ‘Romeo A blend of the east and the west is the right blend of classical forms, modern ment industry has to go long way to
Anatoliy Kazatskiy. Both productions had opportunity to watch films like these on and Juliet’ and ‘Nutcracker.’ ‘Romeo and underlining theme for most of our techniques and narrative to take it achieve international standards in
different sets of leads playing Odette/ a big screen. The second edition of the Juliet’ is a much-loved play and the love events as we collaborate with interna- across a wider audience. terms of scale, logistics, content and
Odile and Prince Siegfried, and all of festival held this year in June, was based story will be a unique treat for art en- tional entertainment companies to of- There is an audience out there for discipline. Government support to
their performances were equally loved on the theme of World Classic. It featured thusiasts — something that audiences fer audiences an authentic experience both, but there is a vast difference in grant industry status to live entertain-
by the audiences. The production is the nine films from across several coun- have never seen before. The ballet has of engaging with global arts. Not only how they are engaged by entertain- ment will enable it to have proper busi-
most successful western classical theat- tries like India, Japan, Sweden, Russia, been composed by Russian composer do we help bring arts and artists from ment companies or event organisers. ness or finance plans.
rical experience ever staged in India till Italy, the US, UK and France, by directors Sergei Prokofiev, and is not only one across the globe to India, but also pro- While contemporary dance-based
date. By now, over 50,000 persons have such as Satyajit Ray, Akira Kurosawa, of most celebrated ballets, but also one mote India’s art and culture among in- events target larger audiences, clas- LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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