Meera The Musical was staged in the Capital recently with 183 artists performing.  MUSBA HASHMI speaks with the director and the organisers to bring you a report

In 2010, Zangoora set the precedence of musicals which was then followed by many including Broadway’s Beauty and The Beast that made its way in 2016. Then came the  homegrown musicals like Adi and Ashi’s Indian Adventure, Mughal-e-Azam and the latest one being Meera-The Musical.

Gone are the days when people considered theatre stale. It has now earned its charm back and for all the right reasons. People now love to see everything unfiltered and theatre serves the purpose right. There are no cuts and no retakes, only true to life acting and enchanting music that promise you a refreshing evening.

With Meera-The Musical, there are a few twists. The dialogues are in English and all the songs are retained in Hindi and Sanskrit to maintain the correct folk flavour.

“It is a contemporary take on the revolutionary saint, Meera Bai, the musical is a perfect blend of drama, emotions and entertainment. This 90-minute musical touches upon poignant moments of her victorious journey, with colourful dynamic sequences enriching the experience. The reason why we decided to retain the original songs was that it adds to realism and help people connect more with the act. It makes you travel back in time,” director Sri Vidya Varchaswi, who also plays Meera, tells you.

Not only this, the musical witnessed a record 183 artistes performing and 300 volunteers from Art of Living as production crew. While it may appear to be tough to bring all the artists on a single platform, for Varchaswi, it came easy. “We had a huge bunch of artists on board but it wasn’t difficult to perform with them at all. Infact, I enjoyed a lot. We didn’t even have much time to practice because we had students from different schools and colleges that were also a part of this and it was not possible to bring them together again and again for practice. But all of the performers were so good that they managed to pull it out correctly and the final act came out really well,” she says.

The musical comprises of different dance forms.  From Bharatnatyam to Odissi, and Ghoomar to Gair, each and every folk dance performances was an absolute delight to watch.

There is a reason why people love to make musicals that too with a mythological twist. “Our roots lies in mythology and anything related to it  interests us. It also helps us to bring the untold stories from the mythology to the forefront,” she says.

Rashmi Palliwal, who was the organiser of the event was all praise for  Varchaswi. “She was like a one man army. She did it all by herself. From costumes to direction to bringing together such a big bunch of artistes, she managed it all. And it all happened effortlessly. She flew to Delhi a day before the event and made everyone practice for a few hours. On the next day, they all were all in their costumes, on the stage, confident and ready to perform,” Palliwal tells you.

However, Palliwal was a little nervous of staging it in Delhi. “I had seen the preview of the musical in Bangalore and it was brilliant. It received a standing ovation from the audience. But, still I was a bit nervous of Vidya’s decision of staging it in Delhi merely because of the class-apart people that live here. I wasn’t sure that this musical would be of their and would appeal to them. But seeing her confidence I thought that it could work well and fortunately it did,” Palliwal says.

Palliwal agrees with the fact that theatre has lost its essence since the time when Bollywood took over. “Theatre has seen a decline in audience, but gradually it’s getting back to normal. People now actually buy tickets and express a keen interest in theatre. Theatre should receive more exposure as it is the most creative medium. It gives space to the artistes to be at their creative best. I believe that the medium is bound to grow at a greater rate in the coming years,” she tells you and adds that more musicals like Meera... should be made as they bring people and especially children closer to the country’s history.

This is not all for Varchaswi, as she may be coming up with another musical at the International Women Conference that will happen in January, 2020.