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Bhansali,Vaibhavi in Paris!
B-Town buzz is that this is not a 'strictly business' trip
By: Shaheen Parkar
That Sanjay Leela Bhansali is all set to direct a musical, Padmavati for French opera house Theatre du Chatelet is known. What is not known is that Vaibhavi Merchant will accompany him and will also provide inputs to the project.
It is reliably learnt that the Saawariya director roped in the choreographer for the lavish ballet-opera. Bhansali is slated to leave for Paris later this month with the choreographer in tow. Padmavati is slated to open in mid-March.
According to B-Town buzz, there is a close friendship between Bhansali and Vaibhavi. This was evident at the Saawariya premiere, in November. The Nach Baliye 3 judge was spotted in the company of Bhansali's family that included his mother Leela and sister, music video director Bela Sehgal.
Says a source close to Bhansali, "Vaibhavi is leaving for Paris with him. She will be doing her bit for Padmavati too. She will provide a lot of inputs for the ballet-opera and take a keen interest in the choreography along with Bhansali."
Vaibhavi, however, says she is not associated with the opera-ballet. "I am not doing the choreography for Padmavati," she says.
Earlier musical
Incidentally, doing musicals are not exactly new to Vaibhavi. She has choreographed British writer and director Toby Gough's musical The Merchants of Bollywood that has had numerous shows across UK and Europe for over a year.
The Merchants of Bollywood was, in fact, loosely based on her life as it related the story of a young woman who rebels against her classical Indian dancer-father to pursue Bollywood dance.
What is Padmavati?
The opera-ballet was composed by French sailor-turned-musician Albert Roussel (1869 - 1937) in 1923. Padmavati is one of Roussel's most important works and was strongly influenced by his visits to India. The opera retells a 13th century Indian tragedy, the site of which Roussel had visited during his 1909 visit to India. The story unfolds in Chitoor where Prince Ratan is married to the beautiful Padmavati. Mughal King Allauddin visits Ratan's court and is smitten by Padmavati's beauty. Allauddin gives an ultimatum to Ratan to hand over Padmavati to him or face war. A battle ensues and rather than let the Mughals take over Chitoor, Padmavati kills her wounded husband and commits sati to save the kingdom. Actress Marie-Nicole Lemieux plays the title role in this staging, with a mainly French cast.
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