Dadi Pudumjee

We enter to the soothing sound of the duclar, a clarinet-like woodwind instrument that Ichmouratov is playing with two musicians on the sitar and tanpura. With actors on the stage depicting the story of Noah's ark with life-size puppets, masks and shadows against a massive backdrop with projections, Bushkov takes the music to a crescendo. The rehearsal to a recorded track with brainstorming sessions with Ichmouratov over Skype has been on for months, but the trio has come together for the first time this morning.

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"We were worried because we had been rehearsing with a recorded track, and that with the live orchestra, it would sound different. But 99 per cent of it sounds exactly the same," a pleased Pudumjee, who last performed in Mumbai over eight years ago, tells us after the session.

Evgeny Bushkov

Bushkov, who will soon complete his term as SOI's resident conductor, explains how it all came together. "A year and a half ago, I was given the beautiful books of Neeta Premchand and asked if I thought the stories were appropriate to be put to music. I found them wonderful and so, I took the liberty to suggest that Airat write the incidental music to these books." When things got going, they joined forces with Pudumjee and the project started to take shape.

Ichmouratov, who met Pudumjee briefly last summer at Premchand's Bombay Paperie, shares, "We decided that it was very important that we use traditional instruments, which is why we have the sitar and tanpura that fit into the concept beautifully."

Airat Ichmouratov

The spectacle on the stage that the Ishara team creates defies the fixed notions of a puppet show. "People here think of puppetry as only string-held puppets on a small stage, but we tried to use the whole space, and employ puppets as a means, not an end in itself, to tell the story. What you see on the projection are all images from the books, with block printing done in Ahmedabad," says Pudumjee.

Though rooted in mythology, the stories, he adds, are relevant. The earth was submerged in water because it had become corrupt and filled with violence. "Today, you can think of it in terms of human greed and the environment."

At: Experimental Theatre, NCPA.
On: Today, 4 pm; March 24, 11 am
Call: 22824567
Entry: Rs 500

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