MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment in association with Kalarpana has released the DVD of Shobana’s Maya Ravan a unique Musical Dance Ballet in English, in the spirit of the Ramayan.
Maya Ravan was unveiled on Wednesday,26 August 2009, in Chennai. Honorable Member of Parliament Kanimozhi, and film star Kamal Haasan, graced the occasion where they unveiled the Maya Ravan DVD. The first DVD was presented by Haasan to Kanimozhi.
Maya Ravan is an interpretation of the epic Ramayana, which has the trappings of a truly global dance drama – perhaps the first to be performed by an Indian in more ways than one. This production has lent a completely new dimension and definition to the world of entertainment by its unique treatment to the subject. The testament to the same comes from the fact that Maya Ravan ran to full houses and in India, USA and the Middle East. It is next moving to Malaysia and Singapore.
Choreographed, directed and acted by veteran Bharatnatyam dancer and film actress Shobana and her dance troupe, Maya Ravan has been an engrossing experience for dance, music and art lovers across the world. The production is narrated in English by Indian film artists like Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Milind Soman, Suhasini Maniratnam, Revathy, Rohini, Tabu, Sameer Soni and Mohanlal.
It is estimated that Maya Ravan would be available in 50 countries to more than 100 Million people across various platforms including DVD, Mobile, VOD, IPTV and Internet among others.
As part of the future plans, there is also the thought of looking at exploring the possibility of taking Maya Ravan to Broadway audiences in USA and Europe. This is probably for the first time an Indian musical woven around the traditional form of art would touch so many people, so many countries, and so many continents in so many ways. As film maker Mani Ratnam said “Maya Ravan is a one of its kind extravaganza”.
Shemaroo Entertainment director Hiren Gada shares his thoughts, ‘Maya Ravan narrates India’s most popular epic Ramayan, in a contemporary fashion, through music and dance. This is an attempt by Shemaroo to connect India’s cultural milieu to audiences across. With Maya Ravan now on DVDs, this dance ballet will certainly continue to remain alive, entertaining and enlightening masses all over.’
Adds Shobana, ‘Maya Ravan is my effort to rekindle and spread the spirit of our culture nationally and internationally, embracing and adopting all the aspects of the value chain ranging from traditional form of dance to popular forms, and technology. The Mantra being – Culture to people and people to culture – Globally’.
Maya Ravan DVD is priced at Rs. 499 and is available with subtitles in 5 languages – English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
Shemaroo is promoting the DVD in a number of ways like a tie up with Radio CITY as their Radio Partner, running a month long – meet and greet – Shobana contest, A contest form with 5 questions, form part of the Maya Ravan DVD and by answering these questions, 5 lucky winners from Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala will get a chance to spend an hour with Shobana. Shemaroo is also tying up with dance and music academies for showcasing the DVDs at their centers
