(7 July 2005 7:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Sahara India Parivar has unveiled a mosaic of music, dance, culture and tradition in a stage musical on India called Bharati.

The vision of Sahara managing worker and chairman Subrata Roy, Bharati explores India on the world stage with the exuberance, richness of content, colours, dimensions and depth.

This 90-minute show, with a cast and crew of 150 people will be traveling all over the world and performing in French, German, Italian and other languages, besides English and Hindi.

The musical has been written by Kamlesh Pande and is interpreted into theater by theater production house PGP.

The theatrical will be internationally launched at Tel Aviv, Israel at the National Center of Performing Arts in September 2005. The entire cast and crew will be leaving India in July for Israel for the grand launch post which Bharati will be staged across the globe in Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, New York and other cities.

Present at the launch were of Bharati were script writer and executive producer of Bharati and consultant to Sahara India Pariwar Kamlesh Pande, Sahara Corporate Communications head and executive producer of Bharati Abhijit Sarkar, Pasha Goshi Productions (PGP) Pvt. Ltd managing director and executive producer of Bharati Gashash Deshe and PDM International managing director and CEO and co-producer of Bharati Sanjay Lal.

At this occasion in his message Subrata Roy said, "Bharati, the stage musical is the latest offering from Sahara India Pariwar. It is perhaps the first effort of its kind to take India to the world and Sahara India Pariwar is proud to develop it. It is not just an Indian effort but a global initiative because the best of Indian talent has teamed with the best of European talent to bring it to the international stage. Bharati is a journey into the spirit of India, the essence of India, the heart, mind and soul of India into the beauty of our traditions, the richness of our art and culture and the depth of our values. It is a journey into the ideals of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ that the entire world is one family, one Pariwar to survive; the world must team to coexist as India exists - with all its diversity and contradictions."

Speaking at the occasion Pande said, “Bharati is perhaps the most successful ambassador for India to the world. India is a miniature world and we have managed to survive despite the difference and diversity. The key message that Bharati wants to give is the art of survival and it is the most spectacular way to give India the global platform."

Sarkar said, "India is a confluence of various cultures, art, religion and languages. Despite that India is one and will always remain one. Bharati is going to depict this spirit of India by presenting our in-depth traditions, richness of our art and culture which has been inherited by us through age."

Deshe said, "The venture aims to bring to life an everlasting story, woven around the fabric of Indian culture and tradition - epitomized in an Indian woman. This woman represents the essence of India, and she gradually induces the audience to appreciate and respect the deep-rooted spirit of India, that simmers under a flame of chaos and confusion."

Added Lal, "PDM is proud to be associated with PGP in bringing to Indian and foreign audiences, a colorful mosaic of Indian life in the form of Bharati. The opportunity to take India to the world seemed extremely unique and challenging. Add to that, the making of a world class product in India which compete against the ever so popular musicals like Riverdance and Mama Mia fuelled our desire to develop this extremely extravagant showcase. After two years of hard work and dedication by a diverse cross section of people from different cultures, today we are ready to launch. All this would not be possible without the backing and support of the esteemed Sahara India Pariwar. My greatest gratitude to them and best wishes to the cast and crew of Bharati."

Bharati is not just about India, it is about every man and woman who is either connected to or forced by circumstances to go away from his/her roots. The core message of the show is: Human nature likes to hold on to his roots, belong to his roots because a man’s roots are his identity.

For musical score, Bharati will feature 14 greatest hits from Hindi films specially selected for their appeal to the western audience and choreographed for stage by well-known choreographers.

The visualisation of the songs will be according to the situations in the musical and not according to the situation they were used in the films. All the songs will be specially orchestrated for the show and conducted and sung live on the stage. The visualisation will be achieved by combining innovative and imaginative sets with latest multi-media techniques used on stage currently in international musicals worldwide.