Kismat 2014, Naach’s Superhit Magnum Opus

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Photos: Navin Mediwala and Murali Santhana

Photos: Navin Mediwala and Murali Santhana

Photos: Navin Mediwala and Murali Santhana

Click here for photo collage

By Vanshika Vipin

HOUSTON: “Dreams are like stars you may never touch them but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny” Khalil Gibran’s quote inspired Naach Houston to create their destiny in their second home production, a Magnum Opus- Kismat an adventure. Kismat is a multi media production weaving film, sound and live performances – uniquely NAACH.

Synonymous with Bollywood, Mahesh Mahbubani is an artist of international repute and as the founder of Naach Houston Inc, he has realized his vision of a Professional Community based Bollywood Dance Company. Mahesh, along with the Naach team has taken the company from 65 students in 2013 to 150 students in 2014, institutionalizing Naach as one of the best Dance education in Houston.

In a span of less than 2 years, Naach under the Artistic Direction of visionary, Mahesh Mahbubani , has achieved a milestone by performing with Bollywood superstars as Richa Sharma, Bappi Lahiri, Mika Singh, Farhan Akhtar and Raghav. He has created collaborations with leading non-profit organizations as Pratham, Daya, Texana, Centre for Hearing and Speech, India House, Rice University and HCC conducting Bollywood workshops and performances raising funds for educational causes.

Mahesh Mahbubani’s artistic vision shared with his protégé, super talented Hasina Sadiwala in her premier year as Dance Director, along with the gifted instructors of Naach shaped this theatrical adventure- KISMAT. A modern yet classic storyline revealing human condition in current times, addressing the vital question “does Technology bridge the gap for human relationships, discerning what is Real and what is Virtual.”  Mahesh and Naach’s benchmark of thematic shows adorned with graphic backdrops results in a visual treat for the audience.

The Show opens to 5 year old on stage logging into a game, username: ‘NAACH’ and password: ‘KISMAT’ to enter a spectacular and magical world  – The show goes back and forth between the virtual and real worlds blurring the lines in between.

The opening act was the foot tapping ‘Dhoom 3’ title track with 25 dancers in boots stomping rhythmically as the stage reverberated in sync. The applause continued as the credits rolled in with amazing Visuals and soundtrack compiled of world music.

Naach creates meaningful yet amazingly entertaining performances. Kismat was written to address how our choices affect our destiny. We are the creators of the success and failure in our life.

The themes explored the use of Technology to find a life partner- story of Bunty and Babli convincingly played by Shah Ahmed and Malika Ghei indicating that life mirrors our unconscious desires and gives us exactly what we send out.

Babydoll’s story concerns the colorful life of a celebrity pop star played brilliantly by Simran Thakkar and Bhavit Dave, demystifying the synthetic and transient world of show business revealing fake egos, insecurities, money and fame. The message here is we are our work not our Title.

In the Texting and Driving story , the characters Tina(Amita Batra), Anjali( Alyyah Malick) and Rahul( Christopher Rangel)  played sensitively bringing tears to the audience,  revealing the consequences of texting and driving dealing with loss, grief and a sense of helplessness.

Thus conveying that we learn from the loss of our loved ones and live in the present with the ones left behind.

The last story is about how two old friends reconnect through a Facebook event rekindling their love, characterized charmingly by Amit ( Sanjiv Khanna) and Chandni ( Sejal Shan).

The antagonist Hacker ( Jubin Shah) and the protagonist Enchantress (Priyanshi Kanobar) played to the T, shows that wherever there is darkness, light prevails. Their teams played by Naach’s super talented juniors stole the show with their mesmerizing performance.

Stellar performances by the leads and supporting dancers that kept the audience in rapture nonstop for 2 and a half hours– with a magnificent display of diverse dance styles, costume changes, and stupendous lighting designed by Mahesh Mahbubani supported by an unique global soundtrack that just took the audience’s breath away.

The Awesome Naach Management Team headed by Star Gilani the communications Director, Malay Vyas the Stage Director and Business Consultant, Anita Vyas the Graphics Director did an awesome job of all the posters, brochures and screen shots for the production.

The entire team of Naach would like to thank everyone for all the support they received, especially from students, parents and sponsors including Masala Radio, Indo-American News, Allergy Clinic, Bay Area Gastroenterology, Avis Rent A Car of Pearland, Global Imaging & Praana, Ashok Dhingra and Vinod Bhuchar.

 Naach’s got KISMAT and more importantly Houston’s Got NAACH.