Dancing ka ‘punch’nama

Hyderabad: She’s putting India on the global map. Londoner Simmy Gupta , who organises the London Mela, is doing her bit to bridge the gap between the East and the West. Simmy started Nutkhut along with Ajay Chhabra and amongst the many laurels to her name, was that she was invited by the Royal House to perform for HM The Queen, Prince Philip and other dignitaries at the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace. After the performance, they were received by the Queen and their dancers were introduced to the Royal Couple. They are now coming out with their latest production, Navrattan that will be premiered at the London Mela on August 31. 

 

Recalling the earlier performance for the Queen, Simmy shares, “It was the first time an arts company had performed inside the Palace. The event was attended by sportswomen, actors and celebrities as part of a celebration of British Asian culture within the UK for the official visit of the President of India.” 

 

Since then, there’s only been exciting times and their story is as interesting as the work they do. Revealing how she met Ajay, Simmy shares, “I had completed my accounts and law from the University of Kingston. I learnt kathak from the Pakistan’s legendary artiste, Mahesh Siddiqui and also from Uday Shankar’s daughter Mamata Shankar in Kolkata. Ajay had done a management and masters in anthropology, but both of us were pursuing our first love theatre. Ironically, we were both acting in a play called Arrange that Marriage. We were directing, producing and acting for big institutions. Our global family  footprint spanning four generations helped us take arts as a mechanism for change and education as well as entertainment.”

 

Simmy and Ajay did a full circle, came to India and went back to London and started Nutkhut. “The idea was to get an element of mischief and see the world through the eyes of a child. We didn’t want an English name. We are also working on a book which will be released for the House of Commons celebrating the 10 year journey of Nutkhut. The mela was also initiated around the same time by Ajay and I, to fill the need for high quality entertainment in large public spaces. Last year, we had 80,000 people and it’s growing every year. The first one was held on the Indian Independence Day weekend and everyone loved it,” shares Simmy, who has also mastered the art of making miniature Indian paintings. 

 

This year, Europe’s largest outdoor, free and friendly South Asian Festival, will be held at the Gunnersbury Park on August 31. The line-up of the previous mela artists includes stalwart like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Hard Kaur, Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan, Anoushka Shankar, Jay Sean and others. It has also seen industrialists including the Mittals, Hindujas and others as part of the audience. She adds, “We will premiere Navrattan, a quest for the lost gems, inspired by Akbar and Birbal. Birbal will go on a quest to find and collect the nine missing gems from Emperor Akbar’s precious nine-jewelled pendant. The  show will also feature shadow puppetry, interactive storytelling, Kathak and craft workshops.”