From Gurukul to Broadway

Complete with stories of heartbreak, shattered hopes and, finally, success, Sandeep Mahavir's new musical at the Kingdom of Dreams combines classical and Broadway styles

As classical and folk dancers line the red carpet to welcome guests, amid the din of drums and nagadas, the stage is set at Nautanki Mahal for the new musical, Abhimanyu - the Fastest Feet. After Zangoora and Jhumroo, this is the third Broadway-style musical to be staged at the Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon. One has to navigate through Spritzer-laden hands and trays of dainty bites in the lobby to reach the auditorium. Everyone is curious about the musical, which claims to have brought classical and Broadway styles together on the Indian stage. As the show begins, one hears the emcee announce the name "Sandeep Mahavir" at least half a dozen times in the credits. He is the lead actor, co-producer, choreographer, music director (along with Deepak Pandit), production designer, besides being many more things.

Classical music and dance are in Mahavir's blood. He belongs to a family of musicians and vocalists of the Jaipur Gharana and was recently awarded the Bismillah Khan Yuva Award by the Sangeet Natak Akademi for his accomplishments in Kathak. So, for him to do a show sans classical touches was unthinkable. In a newspaper column, Bollywood choreographer Sandip Soparrkar recalls a conversation he had with Mahavir a few years ago: "He said: 'When I go to the US for my Kathak concerts, I would take out time and see almost all the musicals playing on Broadway. Sitting there in the audience, I would wonder why Indians can't do this. As a Kathak dancer, I always wanted to see Kathak on Broadway.'" And he finally got the opportunity at the Kingdom of Dreams, which was looking to do something different for its third musical.

The show opens with the sprawling deserts of Rajasthan, where the first half of the story is based, created on a screen beautifully by a sand artist. "The story travels from sand dunes to the skyscrapers of Manhattan," says Mahavir, who has also choreographed some pieces for the film ABCD. "I belong to the state and also count the US as my second home. So, you can say that the story is almost autobiographical." The idea behind Abhimanyu is also to showcase the colours and hues of India, as the show has been created "keeping the Western audiences in mind as well," says Mahavir. So, the first song is a celebration of Holi in the village, where one also meets the lead characters, Abhimanyu and Bawree. Through the course of time, one sees Abhimanyu journey from his gurukul, which was founded by his late father, to the world of Broadway with the help of an international dancer played by Emma Yearsley. Complete with stories of heartbreak, shattered hopes and, finally, success, Abhimanyu promises to be an entertaining package for the audience.

One can see nine dance styles in the show, ranging from salsa, B-boying and hip hop to Lavani. The production scale of the show is massive, with a team of 230 people, including 140 dancers, who work day and night to realise Mahavir's vision. A lot of the main dancers are students of Mahavir, including Mugdha Mane, who plays Bawree. "I have been Sandeep ji's student for the past 20 years. So, I was in seventh heaven when I got to know I will play the lead in my guru's project," says Mane, who revels in the folk influences on the choreography.

And yet, for someone who has been part of the Indian film industry for some time now, the Bollywood influences do not come as a surprise. One gets to see these filmy touches at full blast, especially in the "Sanjay Leela Bhansali-meets-Karan Johar-style designer desert" where women are always impeccably dressed and the decor seems to be out of the pages of Architectural Digest.

Some songs, too, carry a whiff of blockbusters of the recent past, especially in Maula Megh De, where you half expect Lagaan's Bhuvan to waltz in and break into ghanan ghanan. Overall, the music is catchy and hummable, and one can recognise voices such as Shankar Mahadevan, Daler Mehndi, Udit Narayan and Javed Ali, who have brought alive the journey of Abhimanyu with their songs. There are some let-downs too, such as waat laagli, which seemed like a contrived item number and took my attention away from the stage to the mails and messages on my phone. The highlight of the show are the Kathak solos done by Mahavir, which are exceptional in their technique and footwork. The finale is worth waiting for, with its fusion of Kathak and hip hop, as Abhimanyu reclaims his dreams and aspirations.

You can catch Abhimanyu -The Fastest Feet at Nautanki Mahal, Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon, at 7 pm every day