By Neha Kirpal
Prabhat, The Temple of Art, is an internationally renowned artistic institution from India. The organization has created stage history with a unique blend of tradition along with sophisticated stage techniques of the present technological era.
Prabhat has travelled the world and presented cultural programmes for prestigious festivals, international symposiums and cultural events and on various occasions in different parts of the world like USA, Switzerland and other European countries, Singapore, Malaysia and other
Asian countries.
Prabhat is presenting a dance musical 18 Days: Dusk of an Era based on the epic saga The Mahabharata in Delhi from 2nd of December to 4th of December, 2022 and in Bengaluru on
9th and 10th December, 2022.
In this exclusive interview, the Artistic Directors of the production, Sharat R Prabhath and
Bharat R Prabhath, spoke to us among other things about the experience and challenges involved in recreating the massive Kurukshetra War, their previous productions and what they
are working on next.
Tell us about the dance musical 18 Days: Dusk of an Era based on the epic saga, The Mahabharata?
This production is about the 18 day war in the Mahabharata. A lot of questions have been raised about the decisions Lord Krishna took as well as the deaths of various people such as Bhishma, Karna, Drona and Abimanyu. The entire production starts with the questioning of all these deeds. Once the story starts revealing, every point is answered, and the answer for each question is justified. The conclusion is that everything happened for a reason and for dharma. Dharma is bigger than everything else. The presentation is intelligently crafted. The script and music for the production has been done by Sharat. We have taken the base from the original text of Vysa’s Mahabharata, and we have weaved the story in multiple languages such as Sanskrit, English and Kannada.
What was the experience and challenges involved in recreating the Kurukshetra War with a massive set consisting of 50 artists and 50 technicians?
Working with a huge crew, the most prominent challenge that we faced was of finance and resources. While doing the script, the research took at least two years’ time. For the music, we have been very particular about using live instruments. This production has more than 1,500 tracks. Bringing an 18 day story in just 90 minutes was one of the biggest challenges as well as doing justice to each character and sequence. Every important aspect of Kurukshetra has been justified in the performance. It’s easy to visualise it all, but difficult to translate it into reality.
Tell our readers about some of your previous productions.
We have done a production called Kathaastra, Dawn of the Epic based on a Kannada poem composed by Kumara Vyasa. It is the story of Arjuna endeavouring to possess the sacred weapon from Lord Shiva, and the combat that follows between the two of them. In 2015, we introduced hologram screens and LED walls in the classical performance. It was a huge success story. Back then, ticketed shows, especially for dance, were rare. Another of our productions called Apaharana is a fictional story written, composed and directed by Sharat. It blends the stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It is somewhat like Inception being performed on stage.
Which are some of the prestigious festivals, international symposiums and cultural events in different parts of the world where you have presented your cultural programmes?
We have presented at the World Soil Day conference, GKVK Bengaluru; the World Yoga Day Conference in the presence of PM Narendra Modi, Bengaluru; and the International Conference – Anti Terrorism, Delhi.Further, we have also performed at all the leading festivals, such as the Delhi International Arts Festival, Bengaluru International Arts Festival and the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa as well as at various medical summits, scientist conclaves and other platforms.Apart from that, individually we have performed at Bahrain, Shanghai, Hong Kong and many other parts of the world.
What are you working on next?
Currently, we are working on a few more productions, which will be staged in the coming year. Our new production is called Bha. The letter bha has 28 meanings. We have taken multiple dimensions in this production.
