Director's Note:

"Jaya", the theatre production, is a two hour opera in English that presents the major events of the "Mahabharata" in mime, dance, song and music. It presents these key events in a dramatic montage style through the eyes of Yudhishtira, the main protagonist and the eldest Pandava brother. It examines and contrasts his "experiments with truth" with two other divergent beliefs and view points, those of Duryodhana and his faith in victory and power at any cost, and that of Karna's fatalism and belief in an unchangeable destiny.

The opera is completly sung to an original score where the lyrics are set to a grand symphonic score that derives its influences from sources as rich and diverse as Western and Indian classical music, jazz and rock as well as other forms of Indian popular music like Rabindra Sangeet, Carnatic music and reqional folk songs. In its synergization of different forms, the music reflects the style and treatment of the entire production, whose aim is to use the traditional as a solid base on which to build, explore and innovate in a contemporary manner.

"Jaya" is a production imbued with the spirit and beliefs of the Mahabharata, yet it is dynamic, stimulating, moving and exciting in its style of presentation. It is the "Mahabharata" for the 21st Century.

The design of the entire production is stark, grand and epic in style, in the genre of Greek tragadies. A sense of a tale larger than life, with a plethora of characters and a chorus that both participates and acts as a commentator. The choreography is an imaginative and novel amalgamation of traditional Indian dance styles with contemporary dance form of the West. The sets, costumes and lights design also reflect this synergy of East and West, where the idiom, though distinctly Indian, is nevertheless modern and accessible.

"Jaya" aims to project the Indian ethos to the world in a manner that is dramatic, entertaining and educational, but technically polished and aesthetically conceived.

Lillette Dubey

The opera premiered in March 1998 at the Bandra Reclamation grounds.

The Cast

Yudhishtira

Nandu Bhende,

Arjuna,

Amit Behl

Draupadi

Jeanne Michael

Bhima

Wilfred Lewis

Sahadeva

Bryan Furtado

Nakula

Peter Cassian

Dronacharya

Bakul Thakar

Bhishma

Abhay Nihalani

Kunti

Devika Bhojwani

Nisha Pathania

Gandhari

Lorella Jacinto

Dhritarashtra

Francois Casstellino

Sanjaya

E. Krishnan

Dushasana

Rajkumar Acharya

Duryodhana

Vikrant Chaturvedi

Karna

Suraj Jagan

Adhiratha

Sandeep Kanjilal

Shakuni

Asif Ali Beg

Krishna

Vishal

Abhimanyu

Mahesh Mahboobani

Joey Noronha

Dancers

Devraj Dubey

Moreshwar K. Jangle

Kedarnath L. Pande

Joey Noronha

Minino Fernandes

Nitin D. Bhate

Gautam V. Kathin

Rajkumar Acharya

Cedric Braz

Renuka Rawat

Anamika Chakravarty.

 

Production Team

Director and Producer

Lillette Dubey

Choreographer

Mahesh Mahboobani

Set and Costume designer

Sumant Jayakrishnan

Lighting Designer

Lynne Frenandes

Musical director

Sandeep Kanjilal

Sound

Roger Drego

Assistant Director

Anamika Chakravarty

Co- Costume designer

Anshu Arora Sen

Assistant lights designer

Zulekha Allana

Lights

Ulhas Sahasrabuddhe

Sets

The Indian National Theatre

Voice Training

Celio Lobo

Backstage manager

Kirk Dias

Wardrobe

Rajkumari Chandiramani

Properties

Kavita Bhatia

Sharmila Jagan

 

The Musical Score

Original Score and Lyrics

Sandeep Kanjilal

Music tracks produced by

Dinshah Sanjana

Keyboards, Drums, Programming

Dinshah Sanjana

Additional Keyboards,

Drums Programming

Pankaj Singh, Sandeep Kanjilal

Guitar

Naresh Kamath

Mridangam

Vivek Rajagopalan

Percussion

Taufique Qureshi

Tablas

Anupam Dey Ghatak

Violin, Viola

Ashish Rego

Flute

Milind Sheorey, Ajay Prasanna

Saxophone

Carl Clements

 


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