We are at Mumbai’s newest landmark, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, on a Monday evening. Preparations are in full swing for the award-winning Broadway musical—Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music— which will begin playing early May. Ambani says this will be the first time an international Broadway production will be staged in India, and the entire team has flown down from the US and will stay for almost a month. Nita Ambani, who is personally involved with everything at the NMACC, has just held a mahurat puja ahead of the show, after which she meets us. It is 8pm on International Workers’ Day, and Ambani looks radiant in a pink sari, as if her day has just begun. She is self-effacing and gregarious as she warms up for a candid conversation with THE WEEK, along with a mug of coffee.
“I don’t even have any concept of what I do at this moment... between Mumbai Indians (her IPL team) and the stage puja for The Sound of Music. They (performers) were so taken in with the whole experience. They said it is better than any theatre they have performed in.... We should do anything that brings Indian art and culture into the spotlight. I talk as a mother and a grandmother. We don’t want to lose all this,” she says, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
The NMACC, which is a part of the larger Jio World Centre in Mumbai’s plush business district of Bandra Kurla Complex, consists of the 2,000-seater Grand Theatre, the 250-seater The Studio Theatre and the 125-seater The Cube. The aim, says Ambani, is to provide an accessible space for the exhibition of Indian and international art and culture.
This story is from the May 14, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 14, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
There Is A Wind Blowing Against The BJP, And It Will Only Pick Up Speed
Interview - Akhilesh Yadav, Former Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh
Between hospital and home
Transitional care centres can add a lot to India's health care system
EFFORT VS EFFECT
The government's attempts to ensure quality drugs is evident, but how well new policies can be monitored on the ground remains to be seen
A way to let go of fear
Accepting the use of adult diapers is a journey with various stages-denial, concealment, rejection and reluctance
Mandeeps & a miracle
Two strangers, one deadly disease and an act of kindness. How Mandeep Mann saved Mandeep Singh, an acute leukaemia patient, by donating his stem cells
The A, B, C of cosmetic surgery
Between eight to 10 lakh cosmetic surgeries happen in India every year. Who is an ideal candidate, and what are the risks and results you can expect?
Vaccines and meningitis
In sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east, and encompassing the northern part of Nigeria, there exists a region known as the African Meningitis Belt (AMB).
Celebrating diversity and inclusivity
As Indians battle it out in our nation's 18th general election, it is again time for voters to reflect on the \"Idea of India\"-or rather, on two duelling ideas of India that are now before us and between which the nation must choose at the ballot box.
Defendant: an Hermès handbag
When Hermès was hit with a class-action lawsuit last month for \"antitrust\" activities, it didn't see it coming. Most of the luxury world has all eyes on this suit, filed by two interested consumers who claim they were denied a purchase, and whether it would go to trial.
A legacy, bound
Amal Allana's biography of her father, Ebrahim Alkazi, is as much personal as it is historical
