The words ‘opera house’ invoke feelings of grandness and magnificence in most people, and if the scenes from Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather start playing in the theatre of your mind, you are not alone. But it is not often that one gets the opportunity to be inside an opera house. Mumbaikars just got lucky as the Royal Opera House, built by Maurice Bandmann, along with Parsi businessman Jehangir Framji Karaka, and inaugurated by King George V in 1911, re-opened recently after a hiatus of 23 years.
Conservation Architect Abha Narain Lambah, who came onboard seven years ago, has done a spectacular job in restoring the structure. “The Royal Opera House is an early 20th century stone-clad structure; a hybrid construction of Ashlar stone masonry in Malad stone and has decorative friezes carved out of white Porbandar limestone. The sloping roof uses Burma teak rafters and terracotta tiles,” said Lambah.
Industrialist Anil Ambani’s wife Tina attending a show | Amey Mansabdar
The Royal Opera House is sheer opulence inside. “We have recreated and restored the historic baroque interiors with detailing in red, gold and ivory dominating the colour scheme,” said Lambah. From the solid teak double doors and the thick carpets to the ornate ceiling painted in ivory, gold and blue and the crystal chandeliers—some of them are from the personal collection of the Gondal maharaja Jyotendrasinhji Jadeja, who owns the property, and some from David Sassoon’s home, Sans Souci—every bit of detail has received enormous attention. “The jewel tones in the ruby red and wine-coloured stained glass windows and even the proscenium, which bears the royal crest of the Gondals, to the side balconies and royal boxes in the auditorium, great care has been taken to restore it with the same historic detailing,” said Lambah. “While the ground floor uses Italian marble, the upper floors use Minton tiles imported from England.”
Asad Lalljee, curator of the Royal Opera House and CEO of Avid Learning, is going all out to introduce India’s only opera house to the country and the world with his subtle style. Mumbai Film Festival was the first event hosted by the Royal Opera House. “We were so fortunate that the Gondal family permitted us to have the 18th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star’s opening ceremony at the restored Opera House,” said Anupama Chopra, the festival director. “This iconic landmark has always had a special connection with the city, being the destination for art and culture. Its incomparable interiors provided the ultimate backdrop of elegance and baroque style.”
The following day it hosted a short performance of operatic arias and songs by Mumbai-born British soprano Patricia Rozario and her husband, Mark Troop. “The evening was beautifully done. My whole thing was that I didn’t want to overpower people with opera; what if they’re not interested, and so half an hour max. It was very short, just wine and cheese,” said Lalljee.
That set the proverbial ball rolling, and next it was the Parsis of Mumbai—Coomi Wadia and Parvesh Java did a performance, a homage to the opening. Lalljee said the response so far had been great, from award shows to Republic Day celebrations of an NGO to music groups who recently performed at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Even the theatre fraternity is coming in with a big show debuting next month. “There are almost two-three things happening every week and it is not even fully ready,” said Lalljee, who has plans for a fountain, a garden and even a fine dine restaurant. “I’m also going to have rotating installations paying homage to the structure; all that will be ready in the middle of May, June,” he said.
Grand taste: the grandeur of Royal Opera House | Amey Mansabdar
Lalljee said they were not looking to cover the restoration cost but could not run at a loss. “We’re just looking to cover the out of pocket cost,” he said. He is lobbying all the high commissions and cultural organisations to “come and make this their home”. “I was in New York earlier, for some other work, and I met the mayor. I’m meeting lots of people and they’re exploring,” he said.
That the Royal Opera House has already received bookings until December next year should give a glimpse of how exciting things already are. But Lalljee is not one to sit back content. He wants to invite sculptors to come to the garden and create pieces. “I need the garden to be ready to do that, though, and then, on the two verandahs, we are trying to do some kind of a rotating exhibition,” he said.
There are also plans to have curated walks through the place on a regular basis, where legends such as Bal Gandharva and Lata Mangeshkar gave some of their early performances. “We have already got somebody who is going to do it for us. We are going to do not only the Royal Opera House but also the area around it; a lot of music gharanas started down the road, because of the opera house,” said Lalljee. “The idea is to bring various elements of arts into this performing arts space.”
