Raja Dheeraj – Love, Life, Leela
Parv Dasani
9 years
This review is worth reading because it offers an engaging glimpse into Raja Dheeraj, highlighting its captivating storytelling, spectacular performances, stunning VFX, and live music. It also provides honest feedback on minor flaws, helping readers decide whether this devotional mega-musical is worth watching.
Official Site: https://dhanrajnathwani.com/rajadhiraaj/
A magnificent display of art, culture and timeless stories about
Lord Krishna
Few days ago, I had headed out to watch the compelling play, Raja Dheeraj, presented in the Grand Theatre of the NMACC (Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre) in the prestigious area of the Bandra Kurla Complex.
I must say, it was a thrilling show, not a monotonous one as I had expected. Before, my idea of a play was a lacklustre show with some dance, drama and singing. This one, nevertheless, was quite the opposite.
The name ‘Grand Theatre’ is the perfect way to name the setting of the show.
It’s a vast, grand place, spanning three floors, each having four gates.
It’s a circular theatre consisting approximately 2000 seats, facing a proscenium stage.
The ground floor features premium sections such as VIP and Platinum seats, and classic ground-viewing, called the ‘Gold’ section.
The first level houses Royal Boxes, private boxes which offer food and drinks along with a completely free view, and the Dress Circle, a semicircular area with comfortable seats in the elevated middle, providing a complete, enthralling view of the play.
The second floor has an open balcony, offering panoramic views and complete enjoyment of orchestras and dances.
There was a special feature too! Every seat had a speaker underneath it, helping everyone listen attentively, and enjoy the play with loud, clear speech and musical performances.
Raja Dheeraj is a spectacular mega-musical play that brings to life the epic story of Shri Krishna, tracking his evolution from a mischievous child in Vrindavan to the sovereign King of Kings in Dwarka.
Directed by Shruti Sharma and written by Prasoon Joshi, the grand production has featured the art of over 180 performers, amazing choreography, and immersive musical performances by Bollywood composer Sachin Jigar.
The narrative is deeply immersed in devotion, opening with a stunning homage to Shrinathji and building up to a visually overwhelming story of the Vishwa Roopam (his cosmic form), all brought to life with a massive scale, vibrant costumes, and breathtaking visual effects.
The First Half - Joyful Stories of Krishna’s Childhood
The excellent first half features strong, devotional stories of Krishna’s lively, gleeful time as a young child.
The play kicked off with a vibrant celebration of Janmashtami in a small town. A brilliant piece of acting from all performers is definitely validated in this scene.
A young girl is curious about the various tales of Lord Krishna and is hungry for more exciting ones.
The traditional story of Krishna’s birth is depicted in the best possible manner.
Krishna, reaching Gokula, grows into a brave, humorous child, stealing butter from the very tops of houses, and enjoying it to the fullest.
His bravery is no less as well, lifting a whole hill to protect his town from the harsh rains brought by Lord Indra, and that too for seven days!
Truly impeccable, right?
Word reaches about Kamsa’s fate to Gokula, and Krishna receives and invitation for single combat against the cruel king of Mathura.
Knowing that he did have the potential to beat the mighty, evil king, Krishna left with Balarama, with only one goal – to destroy Kamsa for once and for all.
Of course, he succeeds and throws Kamsa off his prized throne, despite all the royal might Kamsa had and all the circumstances he was facing.
This began his reputation as a brave, powerful, just and happy king.
The Second Half - The King of Kings, Raja Dheeraj
In the remarkable, inspirational second half, Krishna has grown into a responsible adult. There are distinctive arts and lesser-known stories in this wonderful half.
Let us have a look at its astonishing tales.
It kicks off with a story centring around benevolence, right in Gokul.
A girl residing at the very top of the hill Govardhan is visited by an erudite sage, who is really compassionate and understands her thoughts perfectly.
Then, the brilliant tale of Rukmini is shown with complete passion and depicted in an extraordinary play.
The classic of Krishna taking her away from the cunning, wicked Shishupala is of course, a must – watch.
A seventeenth century tale is performed with impeccable art and loads of emotion.
A chariot’s wheel breaks down and the passengers reside in the prosperous, yet small kingdom of Mewar.
After this, was the end of the extraordinary show!
There was a special feature in the performance. All the songs were sung and composed live! With pieces from Sachin Jigar’s creative mind, these were absolutely brilliant!
My feedback is brilliant, just with a few minor errors here and there. I’d rate it something around 89/100.
It was quite a breathtaking performance, the stories were defined clearly and perfectly, and the artists made a spectacular show too.
It’s VFX was almost a masterclass, with just a few coordination errors. In the second half, the story formation and choice both were really great, but not as brilliant as the first half. Two noticeable confusing aspects were…
The instant jump from many hundreds of years back to the 17th century was rather jarring and took few minutes to realize.
Lord Krishna played a key role in the Mahabharat, yet scenes from the epic were not included.
Yet, the replacement stories were lesser-known, so they educated many (including me!) and the artists performed flawlessly, completely making up for the exclusion of the Mahabharat.
I highly recommend this show for anyone, specially to those who believe in lord Krishna and his various leelas.
It’s a breathtaking play with colourful scenes, brilliant acting and devotion led performances.
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