From a speck of dust…the all-new Delhi story

At the centre of the plot is a zarra (a speck of dust),that has witnessed the rise and fall of Delhi’s ten cities,narrating the story of the Capital to the sky above. The story begins with the establishment of the first city — Qila Rai Pithora — and runs through Qutab-Mehrauli,Kilokri,Shehar-e-Nau,Siri,Tughlaqabad,Jahanpanah,Firozabad,Shahjahanabad and culminates in modern-day Delhi. The rise and fall of these cities are mapped and transformational incidents documented through images projected on the Humayun Gate.

The Humayun Gate — with alcoves,parapet and stairs — has been mapped in a way that images through Christie 20K video projectors seem real-life,recreating incidents like Humayun’s fatal fall from the steps of Sher Mandal and dancers performing within the alcoves of the wall.

Erstwhile cities are shown through maps,with the narrator at times relating historic places to their current geographic locality.

Spectators can look forward to two performances — a kathak rendition of Chhap Tilak sung by Rekha Bhardwaj and a Sufi song by Kailash Kher featuring the Whirling Devishes of Turkey. The show ends with the Metro rail whizzing through the parapet as its tracks,and an image of the bustling road network linking the National Capital Region to the heart of Delhi.

The content of the show has been scripted,conceptualised and designed by Himanshu Singh Sabharwal,who runs a production firm,Two’s A Film Company. Sabharwal lends his voice to the zarra while Mukesh Khanna of Mahabharata fame is the voice of aasman.

“A lot of research went into the show while working on the content and professor Najaf Haider from Jawaharlal Nehru University advised us on the historical instances. Several other incidents have been drawn from works of William Dalrymple,B B Lal and other historical writings on the Capital,” Sabharwal told Newsline.