History in movement: Red Fort’s new night show dazzles with drama, depth | India News

Photos: Piyal Bhattacharjee

Centuries come and go. Empires rise and fall. But like an unyielding boxer surviving a battery of cruel punches, the Red Fort stands tall and resolute, commanding each respect and eyeballs.
It has been fairly a life. The fort, now 377 years of age, has skilled the elation of being the imperious coronary heart of the Mughal Empire, the despair of being looted by invaders like Nadir Shah, the anguish of being demolished after the 1857 Uprising and the stirrings of patriotism on the INA trials of 1945-46. Lal Qila, as it’s popularly referred to, isn’t simply an emotionally sophisticated eyewitness to historical past, but in addition a participant-observer in the nation’s most decisive moments.

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Jai Hind, a late night sound and light-weight show, marked by audacity of creativeness, recreates the enduring fort’s chequered life like by no means earlier than. The world’s first sound and light-weight show was created by French curator Paul Robert-Houdin at Château de Chambord in 1952. From 1968, Red Fort too had its personal son et lumiere managed by ITDC for the Union tourism ministry.
Launched in Jan 2023, the revamped and resuscitated show is curated by ‘monument mitra’ Dalmia Bharat Limited, as a part of Union ministry of tradition’s ‘Adopt A Heritage’ scheme. The identical 12 months in June, National Geographic positioned it among the many world’s prime 5 sound and light-weight reveals, alongside Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal and Philae Temple in Aswan.

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PAST WITHOUT PREJUDICE: A luminous puppet representing ‘Time’ (proper) towers over the viewers, launching Delhi’s Red Fort right into a 60-minute theatrical spectacle that fuses sound, laser gentle, and reside efficiency. As spectators stroll between Naubat Khana, Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas, historical past comes alive with galloping horses, singing rivers, royal betrayals, colonial brutality, and triumphant independence
Narrated by sutradhars — Amitabh Bachchan in Hindi and Kabir Bedi in English — the show is crafted like a cell three-act play that hopscotches from Naubat Khana to Diwan-e-Aam to Diwan-eKhaas over 60 minutes. The spectators transfer with the show, watching the medieval edifices morph into an open-air-theatre. Laser lights dance, horses gallop and ships sail to a cloudburst of stereophonic sound as night eases into night. The pageantry blends the archive with the reside. Trained actors — younger and lithe — recreate key occasions that formed the way forward for India. It’s a smorgasbord for the eyes.
Back in 1960, movie director Okay Asif’s magnum opus, Mughal-E-Azam, began with the phrases of the narrator, “ Main Hindostan hoon” . The state-of-the artwork show begins at Naubat Khana, the drum home the place royal musicians as soon as performed, with Bachchan’s booming baritone declaring “ Main waqt hoon (I am Time).” Over the subsequent 10 minutes ‘Time’ takes the form of a glowing operated by hand puppet, a lot taller than a human, and turns into the storyteller.

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Red Fort’s building started on May 12, 1639 — a day determined by the court docket’s astrologers. The centrespread and centrepiece of the imperial metropolis of Shahjahanabad, the town inside a citadel is unfold over a capacious 255 acres. After the opening remarks, the show harks again to April 6, 1648, the primary day in its life. We hear Mughal princess Jahanara asking her kaneez (maidservant) to take heed to the singing of the flowing Yamuna. Over eras, the river has receded a number of kilometres from the ramparts, however there was a time when it glided alongside the fort, feeding the moats surrounding it. Time adjustments every part, together with a river’s path and destiny.

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The viewers then shifts to the close by Diwan-e-Aam. By its arches and columns, dancing ladies softly swivel to mild music. It is a time-travel second. The dancers transfer with the rhythm of long-play information as one feels transported to seventeenth century. Trumpets blow and drums ( nagaras ) beat as Shahjahan — personified in a giant-sized puppet — enters the fort, recognized in its earliest days as Qila-e-Mubarak.
Diwan-i-Khas is the setting for the third and closing act. Over the subsequent 40 minutes, historical past turns into residing and experiential. The partitions round Diwan-i-Khas develop into an enormous display screen the place supple laser lights assemble a melange of transferring pictures recreating the battle of succession after Shahjahan’s passing. The triumph of the ultra-conservative Aurangzeb and the beheading of his liberal brother, Dara Shikoh, mark the top of the period of music.

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But the times of revelry return throughout the lengthy reign of the ineffectual Mohammad Shah Rangila (1719-1748), who pursued pleasures like children chasing butterflies. In 1739, the rampaging Nadir Shah of Iran invaded Delhi. Rangila capitulates. But rumours swirl that Shah has both died or been imprisoned. Some Iranian troopers are attacked and slayed. An enraged Shah orders bloodbath and plunder. Those tragic however vital moments in the lifetime of Delhi have been captured with Swiss clock-like precision in the son et lumiere. Scores of troopers, armed with spear and defend, immediately emerge from all sides of the stage, together with the again of the viewers. Dressed in darkish inexperienced, they rush to the sound of offended music, flipping like acrobats in the air, performing to well-rehearsed routines. Art and motion meld when the lights change to darkish purple, indicating the town’s gloom. Images of smoke and fireplace float throughout the partitions as Delhi is drowned in screams. The scene ends with the carting away of the loot, together with the Koh-i-noor and Takhte-Taus (Peacock Throne).

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The show integrates quick tales inside the bigger chronicle. How the Mughal king would cover the Koh-i-noor inside his turban, a incontrovertible fact that none knew besides Noor Bai, a cultured tawaif (courtesan) of the time. Noor would reveal this secret to Nadir Shah, who would organise a turban-exchanging ceremony to pay money for it. In the a long time that comply with, the Marathas, and later the Sikhs, emerge as controlling powers.
Epochs leap because the show graphically and evocatively capsules the rise and unfold of East India Company, the story of animal-greased cartridges and the Uprising, the dying notes of the Mughal empire, the British takeover, together with Major Hobson’s slaughter of the rebels.
Fast ahead practically 100 years to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj. His radio broadcast, the stirring observe, “ Kadam kadam badhaye ja” , the march and defeat of INA — reel and actual mix. Faces merge like cell murals and phrases develop into transient graffiti on the partitions whereas actors enact the occasion on the bottom. Shortly thereafter, India good points Independence. PM Jawaharlal Nehru makes an inspiring speech. Time completes a life cycle. But it doesn’t cease. Neither has the Red Fort.
The new museum inside Red Fort seems to be to take ahead the concept of the previous leaping out of the pages of historical past, giving guests a really feel of the heydays of Mughal Delhi. A ten-minute screening in Afreen — a 360-degree theatre — takes you again to the primary day in the lifetime of Lal Qila whereas ‘Afsana: The Red Fort Story’ gives a tour of the outdated metropolis of Shahjahanabad. Here you can also odor the royal ittar of the hamams and listen to ‘Vande Mataram’ being performed on a number of musical devices.

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‘We wanted to do something new, fresh and world-class’

Puneet Dalmia is the CEO and MD of Dalmia Bharat Ltd, the organisation that’s the ‘monument mitra’ for Red Fort. He talks to Avijit Ghosh concerning the making and shaping of the sound and light-weight show. Excerpts:
How was the show conceived?
The ministry of tradition’s ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme invited personal participation to create extra participating experiences at iconic heritage websites. In April 2018, Dalmia Bharat turned the monument mitra for Red Fort. This is a 10-year contract with a 5-year checkpoint for renewal. It’s a public-private partnership and ASI has been a key a part of the venture.
How lengthy did it take to fructify?
We needed to do one thing new, recent and world-class. What we got here up with was not only a sound and light-weight show, however a theatrical manufacturing the place reside actors and dancers carry out. This has occurred for the firsttime in a Unesco World Heritage website in India. The show was conceived in about 18 months, and took us one other eight months to provide. It’s been occurring for 2 years.

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How a lot cash was spent?
Total capital expenditure was Rs 25-30 crore. The working bills are excessive as a result of reside dancers carry out twice a day on daily basis, besides Mondays. We spend Rs 15-18 crore yearly to maintain the show on.
Is there a bigger message behind it?
When Union residence minister (Amit Shah) inaugurated the show, he stated historic locations should develop into like prerna sthals (inspiring areas). Creating pleasure in our historical past and uniting individuals is the bigger imaginative and prescient. The concept is to show how resilient India has been regardless of invasions and the way the spirit of India lives on.
What made you go for Amitabh Bachchan for (Hindi) narration?
We needed a voice that will resonate with the individuals of India. He was so supportive of the venture. He stated, ‘I will do it pro bono’.
Who are the artistes?
The dance and choreography are by a gaggle referred to as Lok Chhanda.