After premiering in Chennai last September and touring the USA, Enchantment, a play on Pt. Ravi Shankar’s life, comes to Bengaluru this month. Written and directed by Gowri Ramnarayan and presented by JustUs Repertory, the play ‘steps into the inner world of his doubts, regrets, struggles, and the fiery resolve that carried him from a boy dancer in Paris to one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century’.
Enchantment explores the four stages in the sitar maestro’s life
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Special Arrangement
Enchantmentexplores the four stages in the sitar maestro’s life: as a young boy in Paris, acclaimed as a dancer in his brother’s troupe; the disciple undergoing relentless training in music in a remote Indian town; as an artist struggling to establish a career; and the global icon putting Indian music on the world map.
“I was commissioned to write the play by the Fine Arts Academy in San Diego for his birth centenary celebrations. Pt. Ravi Shankar was a godfather at the Academy, and I was fascinated by the idea of penning a play on his life,” says Gowri. “I was not apprehensive about the project, but remained conscious that I was writing about a personality whose life had been recorded publicly to a large extent.”
The play moves between theatre, dance, archival material, and music
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Special Arrangement
Which is why Gowri says she had to find a way “to shape his character in a way that would not contradict what people knew about him, and at the same time bring in a discovery factor. I had to create something new that would still resonate with the people who knew him.”
For this, she leaned into his “human side” that she says people loved about him. “I wanted to look at him as a person with vulnerabilities; and this challenge enthused me.”
Enchantment, that was staged at The Hubba Fest in Bengaluru earlier this year, moves between theatre, dance, archival material, and music and stars Yohan Chacko, Aarabi Veeraraghavan, G Narendra, and Anjana Anand.
“I’d read his two autobiographies and some profiles. But to get insights into the man and his mindset, I think I relied more on the interviews I’d done with him over the years. Also, Kamala Chakravarty, a family friend who’d been his partner of 24 years, had talked at length about Raviji, always with admiration, respect, and some amusement,” says Gowri, adding that these interactions had her understand aspects about the artist’s character that were endearing.
A still from Enchantment
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Special Arrangement
For instance, the fact that he was “open about his life. What also drew me to him was the fact that he faced so much adverse criticism on his performances in the West that hurt him deeply. With his roots in tradition and spirituality, how could he not be shocked by the hippie audience at the Woodstock Festival? But he had a larger goal in mind,” says Gowri, adding, “Pt. Ravi Shankar witnessed how Uday, his elder brother, made India known to the West, and he wanted to take Indian classical music to the global stage in the same manner. He did it in his own way, and who am I to question it?”
It is this “missionary zeal to put Indian music on the world map” that Gowri admires. “And he did what he set out to achieve; everyone else followed.” “Enchantment is not about Pt. Ravi Shankar the musician, but the man he saw himself as, with all the vulnerabilities. Most importantly, how he saw the world becoming his stage. And this was my focus all along,” explains Gowri.
A still from Enchantment
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Lastly, what would Pt. Ravi Shankar say if he were watching the play? “ He would have been intrigued by how somebody else saw him. He might have nodded or shaken his head at different moments, or simply chuckled. But since his entire life is a testament to his conviction that artists are free to express their truth, he wouldn’t have questioned my right to portray him.”
On September 17 at Bangalore International Centre. Entry is free; to RSVP, visit bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/
Published – September 10, 2026 09:40 am IST
