SYNOPSIS

Gandhi, as a subject of a dance ballet, has probably been attempted on such a scale for the first time. There were so many facets of this extraordinary man’s character that to portray all of them would be an impossible task. The twenty-one years of Gandhi’s early life in South Africa from the basis of his beliefs and convictions. This is where from an ordinary barrister, he went on to become a Mahatma. This is also the span of his life which is not so well known to the common man and most importantly to the youth of this country, the people who really matter.

On a dark, cold night in Maritzburg, South Africa, Gandhi was pushed out of the first class compartment of a train just because he was dark skinned. Those were the days when clubs in that country carried boards saying: Dogs & Indians not allowed!

Gandhi memorized 13 verses of the Bhagwad Gita by writing them on pieces of paper and sticking them on the walls of his home. There he also learnt to wash, starch & iron his clothes and as if that weren’t enough, cut his own hair. It was in South Africa that he became convinced that in order to serve humanity one must embrace Brahmacharya. All these fascinating, yet lesser known sides of Gandhi’s life are depicted in the first act of all the ballet.

The Second Act is about the Gandhi we all are more familiar with, Gandhi arrival in Bombay, the Jalianwallah Baug massacre, The Dandi March, Kasturba’s death, the traumatic period of pre-independence, Freedom on 15th Aug.1947 and ultimately Gandhi’s death, are some of the major incidents that have been depicted. Yet, our humble attempt has been to focus on Gandhi, the man rather than anything else.

How close we have been able to come to his essence will be for the audience to judge. But the one thing which we can honestly say is that we have tried to keep our intentions pure & transparent, trying to emulate the character of Mahatma Gandhi

CAST
Mahatma Gandhi	Sachin Shanker
CREDITS
Choreography	Sachin Shanker
Music	K.Narayanan
Lyrics	B.S. Vashishth
Lights	Tapas Sen
Costumes	Bhanu Athaiya
Script	Shashank Shanker
Production	Kumudini Shanker
Sachin Shanker Ballet Unit Lila Cottage, Besant Street Santacruz (W), Mumbai 400054 India. (Tel : 2613 3902

PHOTOGRAPHS