Manganiyars visi gatavojas pavedināt bengaluru

It’s been almost two decades since Roysten Abel’s iconic musical, The Temptation of Manganiyar , premiered. But the noted playwright and theatre director, known for a variety of critically and commercially acclaimed works such as Flowers, Othello in Black and White, One Hundred Magicians and The Kitchen, is still not tired of music.

“I should have had enough of it, but I just haven’t. There’s something very special about it. It still manages to make me sad,” insists Roysten, who is ready to bring the allure of Manganiyar to Bengaluru.

This breathtaking work, which features musicians from Rajasthan’s Manganiyar community performing on an elaborate set of stacked, red-tiled booths inspired by both Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal and Amsterdam’s red-light districts, “came to me when I wasn’t even interested in it,” he recalls.

He was in Segovia, Spain, hosting another show when he was “seduced” into this musical world by two Manganiyar musicians who had accompanied him on this trip. “They would come and sing outside the room at 6 in the morning … and I couldn’t get enough of it,” says Roysten, who created a show around this music in 2006.

Over the years, the piece has taken on a life of its own, he feels. “I don’t believe there is any perfect work of art. It has taken on a life of its own, is a living, breathing thing,” he says of Manganiyar’s Temptation , which has been performed hundreds of times in iconic locations around the world, transcending language and cultural boundaries.

“Even when I was making it, I didn’t know what every line meant,” says Roysten, who believes that the music of these singers was always bigger than the language. “That’s what I wanted to share with the rest of the world,” he says, noting that the focus was never on what was being sung, but rather what it was. “It breaks people down, it stuns them, it moves them… that’s why it works so well.”

The allure of Manganiyar is being brought to Bengaluru thanks to a collaboration between Bhoomija Trust and Prestige Performing Arts Centre.

“After over 800 performances worldwide, Roysten’s masterpiece staged in Bangalore is a truly special treat,” says Dipti Rao, DGM, Auditorium Operations, Prestige Performing Arts Centre.

Gayathri Krishna, founder and trustee, Bhoomija, refers to Manganiyar’s Seduction as “a production that has become a cultural phenomenon across the world. Roysten Abel has created a work that is both deeply rooted in tradition and breathtakingly modern in its theatrics. It is immersive, powerful and unlike anything else.”

Manganiyar Seduction is being staged at the Prestige Performing Arts Centre, Bangalore on Friday, August 29 at 8pm and Saturday, August 30 at 4:30pm and 7:30pm. Tickets, priced at ₹1,200, are available on Bookmyshow.