Bollywood meets Broadway

Shobana stars in Maya Ravan, a musical based on the Indian epic Ramayan

South Indian star Shobana is one of India's most renowned classical dancers. She has performed before royals such as the king and queen of Malaysia and former US president Bill Clinton. Shobana is also one of the few actresses with a catalogue of more than 150 movies in five Indian languages to her name.

But she is willing to place all of that on the back burner to answer my questions. We are to discuss her musical Maya Ravan (Mystical Ravan, based on the Indian epic Ramayan) to be staged in Dubai this weekend.
Calling it a cross between a Broadway musical and Bollywood, Shobana feels that the piece — which draws heavily on Indian mythology about the struggle of good versus evil — has widespread appeal.

"Maya Ravan is a visual spectacle. It's almost like a Bollywood film with English dialogue. You need not be an expert in Bharathnatyam [Indian classical dance] or be an Indian who is familiar with the Ramayan to enjoy this musical extravaganza.
"Our movements and our expressions demystify the plot adequately," says Shobana.

And what got her excited about the project was the opportunity to play the role of the bad guy. For this multi-award-winning actress, playing the role of King Rama — the good guy — was not nearly as appealing as playing the monstrous 10-headed demon King Ravan.
"Firstly, I am way too tall to be Rama [the benevolent King in the mythological text] and I think as a creative artist it's a lot more challenging to play the role of the demon. Ravan has many interesting shades of grey and it is difficult to pin him down," says Shobana, who is 1.68 meters tall.
Shobana says the character of Ravan is a creative minefield.

"I think it requires immense talent to play a character who has the audacity to kidnap the king's wife, Sita, right from under his nose. I mean, what was he thinking? In fact, I think playing a murqa [a fool] is not easy either."

Those who have been following the actress' career will know that Shobana is best known for nailing the role of a bloodthirsty schizophrenic in the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. Apart from being a blockbuster that spawned many remakes in several Indian languages, Shobana also walked away with the Best Actress National Award, one of the highest distinctions for an Indian actor.

Voice talents

The musical Maya Ravan also features the voices of acclaimed actors such as Tabu, Naseerudin Shah, Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff, Suhasini Maniratnam and Revathy, who add to its celeb quotient.

"Many wonder how I managed to get all of them on board. But it was more a case of them seeing the script and volunteering to lend their voices. In fact, I have not even met some of them.
"But it all just worked out fine. I think most of them found the concept of Maya Ravan innovative," says Shobana.

However, with more than 36 costume changes, the musical does not attempt to tweak the ancient epic drastically just for the sake of being innovative.

"I believe in being creative and not altering or making changes in the name of modernising a tale."
"But through this ballet, we have tried to fill some gaps and throw light on the unspoken moments."