Jai Hind A Light And Sound Show Like No Other

Red Fort's reimagined light and sound show is as enthralling as it is informative. Here are the highlights from the opening night

Through dance and battle sequences choreographed by renowned dancer Maitreyee Pahari the audiences were shown important events of the fort.

The line kept moving with the sound of Amitabh Bachchan beckoning us over. Enthralled and mesmerised by the larger-than-life lit enigma &ldquoWaqt&rdquo, we followed his voice over to the Diwan-e-Aam. The Jai Hind - Red Fort Sound & Light Show, which Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated on January 10, is now open to the public. The spectacular inaugural show was held on the January 17 and saw a horde of people witness a light and sound show like no other. It was an immersive art experience, and not just the usual light and sound show.

The Show

Developed by Dalmia Bharat, the Monument Mitra of Red Fort in partnership with Sabhyata Foundation, saw nearly 60 dancers and actors perform live, with the audience moving to the three most prominent areas inside the fort as the show went on. The show is narrated by Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the role of Time, taking us through history&rsquos portal with a gripping script. The evening was a multi-sensory walk-through experience staged at the three most prominent locations of Naubat Khana, Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas inside the premises of the Red Fort.

How It Goes

We stood in line with the rest of the audience at the Naubat Khana, from where the voice-over eventually took us to the rest of the two locations as the storytelling progressed. Through dance and battle sequences choreographed by renowned dancer Maitreyee Pahari, who also directed the show, the audiences were told the story of some of the most important events that took place at the fort, since the time of the Mughals. Starting from the fort&rsquos inauguration in 1948, enacted by life-size puppets at the Diwan-e-Aam, the show carried on to include classical dances, battles, an invigorating musical score by Indian violinist Sharad Chandra Srivastava and live-action theatricals.

World-renowned puppeteer Dadi Pudumji was the tour de force behind the life-sized puppets of the Mughals.

As we walked to the lawns of Diwan-e-Khas and watched the show culminate amidst the tussle for power between Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb, the plunder of Red Fort and Shahjahanabad by Nadir Shah, the rise of the Marathas and their control of Red Fort, and the 1857 War of Independence, the cold night accumulating around us was barely noticeable.

&ldquoJai Hind is the first Sound and Light show to showcase live actors and hi-tech projection mapping technology at a heritage site. I invite schools and college students, government departments and all the residents and tourists of Delhi to watch this world-class production,&rdquo said Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director of Dalmia Bharat.