On February 24, theater company Rungmunch organized two shows of the Geet Ramayana, a Broadway-style rendition of the great Indian epic. Hundreds of Bay Area residents attended the shows, which were scheduled for 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose. The production was supported by the Uttar Pradesh Mandal of America (UPMA), under the initiative of Ritesh Tandon, and proceeds from the show will be donated to rural development projects run by UPMA in India.
Other organizations like the India Community Center, University of Silicon Andhra, the Tarana Dance Academy, California Nupur Dance Academy, and Xpressions- Dances of India also lent their support to this production. Prominent dance virtuosos like Nrutyashiromani Guru Bandana Sen, and Nrutyavilash Guru Suchitra Banerjee also gave their blessings to the musical.
While the original collection of 56 songs was written by renowned poet and writer G.D. Madgulkar in Marathi, Rungmunch used the Hindi version translated by Dattaprasad Jog for their adaptation. The songs tell the story of Ramayana, following Lord Rama’s life from his birth, through his childhood, the 14-year exile, the battle against Ravana, and beyond. Smita and Madhav Karhade directed and produced the musical, while Pratima Shah and Archana Varshney were the executive producers.
Smita and Madhav Karhade conceptualized the Geet Ramayana production twenty-one years ago in a Marathi vocal concert because, says Smita Karhade, they “wanted these timeless compositions to transcend the boundaries of time, transporting the audience to the era of the Ramayana.”
According to Karhade, “The Ramayana is one of the oldest scriptures in the world. It is a treasure trove of knowledge about upholding values and morals when faced with hard decisions in life, and now, through the songs of Geet Ramayana, the common man could connect to the idolized and idealized characters of the Ramayana.”
“Geet Ramayana is a collection of songs chronologically describing events from the Indian epic, the Ramayana.”
According to her, this Hindi production of the Geet Ramayana brought together a large Indian community of artists and organizations to create a production “complete with stunning visuals, intricate choreography, exhilarating dances, and emotionally moving theater, all set to vibrant live music created by the fantastic team of musicians.“
She added, “Rungmunch brought together very talented choreographers, actors, musicians and more than 100+ artists from various backgrounds to achieve this.”
“It has been a long journey from the first presentation to today’s magnificent production,” said Karhade. “It was a ‘mammothian’ task to gather a team of over a hundred artists of all ages, from two-month-old baby Ram to the seventy-two-year-old Rishi, who volunteered to be part of this production and believed in the vision of the organizers.”
As a nonprofit, Karhade said it was a challenge “gathering, managing, and maintaining a big team of cast and crew who are all volunteers, securing funding, acquiring theater, and maintaining the quality and integrity of the production while also making it financially viable.”
“The current generations growing up in America are inundated by Western philosophies and separated from Indian schools of thought, creating a need to preserve Indian culture. Loyalty, sacrifice, importance of love, and victory of good over evil: these are the values that touched the hearts of not only the hundreds of kids watching, but also the children performing—there were highschoolers begging to dance to the Hanuman Chalisa by the end of it!”