Bollywood and Opera Meld in Paris
By JENNY BARCHFIELDThe Associated Press Thursday, March 20, 2008; 9:55 AM
PARIS -- As the rousing overture reaches its operatic climax, the curtains part and Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god, descends from the rafters.
"Padmavati," currently playing at Paris' gilded Theatre du Chatelet, is not your typical operatic fare. It's equal parts straight-laced European opera and Bollywood blowout, with a cast that includes a top French mezzo-soprano, scores of classical Indian dancers and a live tiger.
The director is hit Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose pathos-filled 2002 musical "Devdas" became a crossover international blockbuster and made him hot Bollywood property.
"Padmavati," the revival of a long-neglected French ballet-turned-opera from 1923, is Bhansali's first foray into the rarified world of opera _ which he had rarely listened to before beginning work on the project.
"There was an e-mail that came (proposing the project) and I thought somebody was joking," said Bhansali, speaking in his dressing room at the theater. "I though 'Opera? An Indian director? What are they talking about? Somebody's playing a prank.'"
But then he started listening to the score _ written by sailor and composer Albert Roussel after a 1909 trip to South Asia and based on the legend of a 13th-century queen who chooses death over surrender.
Soon, Bhansali warmed to the idea.
"It was the chance to come to stage, an unknown discipline, and unfold Indian history."
Indian history in French, that is.
The opera's libretto is the language of Moliere, and most of the cast's classically trained singers are French, too.
French mezzo-soprano Sylvie Brunet lends just the right dose of defiance and submission to the role of Queen Padmavati _ who legend has it committed sati, throwing herself onto her husband's funeral pyre to keep from being abducted by a rival leader.
A troupe of classical Indian dancers weaves around the singers, fleshing out the plot with their flex-footed movements. They shimmer and shake, spin and leap, taking center stage during long orchestral movements originally intended for ballet solos.
Although there's not a single Indian instrument in the orchestra, the dancers _ under Calcutta-based choreographer Tanusree Shankar _ appear seamlessly in synch with the music.
Decked out in lavish costumes, they incarnate warriors, ladies in waiting, slaves and a host of Hindu gods, from the fiery goddess of destruction, Kali, to a flying Ganesh.
A live horse, elephant and tiger also play bit parts.
Rehearsals, which brought together performers, musicians and crew of at least six nationalities, were exercises in cultural understanding, Bhansali said.
"It was all very new to the (Western) actors," the director said. "They were very curious about Indian culture and had questions about everything."
The language barrier was a problem _ some of the French cast didn't understand English _ so Bhansali said he gave his stage directions through an interpreter.
"Slowly, slowly, we understood each other."
Plans are in the works to take "Padmavati," which is playing in Paris through March 24, to Italy later this year, Bhansali said.
India could follow, he said, adding he'd like to perform the opera at a fort in the historical Padmavati's town in the northwestern region of Rajasthan.
Or perhaps, Bhansali might do a film version _ sung not in Hindi but in the original French. That could be a hard sell in a country unaccustomed to Western opera, Bhansali acknowledged, but said he thought his compatriots were ready.
"A group of Indian people has gone and done something no Indian had ever done before," said Bhansali. "That makes us very excited and proud at home."
