NCPA@50: Creating, nurturing, serving arts, artists and masses

The iconic National Centre for the Performing Arts, celebrating the golden jubilee, is a living example of how unadulterated vision and imagination, dedication and perseverance of a man--the late Jamshed J Bbabha (with more than ample support from the late Tata group patriarch JDR Tata) can create, nurture, and serve the arts, artists and art-lovers of all genres and feed the soul of an otherwise purely commercial megapolis.

On December 29, 2018 the great artist den entered its golden jubilee year.

From a humble beginning on a rented property on the Bhulabhai Desai Road in south Bombay and inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi on December 29, 1969, the NCPA today houses five world-class theatres--the Tata, the Jamshed Bhabha, the Experimental, the Little Theatre and the Godrej.

 

The NCPA was registered as a public trust in June 1966 as the National Institute of the Performing Arts.

The current name was adopted in November 1967 and the first performance was staged on December 29, 1969 on the rented premise, courtesy the generosity of the late Madhuri Desai, the trustee of the Bhulabhai and Dhirajl Desai Memorial Trust.

As part of the golden jubilee, the centre is getting a Rs 50-crore renovation and upgrade, with Rs 30 crore worth of modern sound, lighting and seating arrangements having been undertaken and more renovation on the way.

The work on the sprawling complex, more popular as the NCPA now, on an 8-acre land parcel facing the Arabian Sea (the reclamation idea was mooted by Bhabha himself to BMC) on the southern tip of Nariman Point, started in 1973 in stages after Bhabha and JRD convinced BMC officials about their readiness to build the complex on the land that was being reclaimed from the sea.

"The work on the new complex wouldn't have been possible but for the Rs 40 lakh seed money from the Dorabji Tata Trust, with which we paid BMC for the land," recalls NCPA chairman Khushroo N Suntook, who has been working for the centre for a royal salary of Re 1 since 2000.

When asked about what drives him to work so tirelessly he quips, "I am only creating what Dr. Bhabha envisioned, and taking his legacy forward," and credits everything to the generosity, dedication and conviction of Bhabha, the brother of Homi Bhabha who is considered the father of India's nuclear programme.

"Dr Bhabha willed everything he had to the NCPA--from modern paintings, silver artifacts and furniture, to even his sea-facing bungalow Mehrangir (auctioned recently for Rs 372 crore to Godrej after a long legal battle) to the benefit of the NCPA.

"We are living today on the remit that Bhabha provided. We've spent a large amount on modernisation, and improved the sound, lighting and seating arrangements. We are able to do this only because of Bhabha's bequest," Suntook says emotionally.

Suntook is happy to claim credit for creating the Symphony Orchestra of India in August 2006, the largest orchestra in Asia, and achieve this when the founder was around.

"Bhabha didn't want this place to become a venue for hire. He wanted us to curate our own cultural genres to a high standard. He ensured that he curated a list of the best performers," he says.

He adds that the first advisory board was full of renowned personalities like musician Yehudi Menuhin, film maestro Satyajit Ray, noted playwright PL Deshpande, music director Karl Bhm and sitarist Vilayat Khan among others.

"No arts centre in the world makes money. After all that is not their objective," is how the 84-year-old gentleman, himself a Western classical music aficionado, puts it when asked if the centre, for long in dire financial straits, is profitable now.

"But today we are on better footing, thanks to the sumptuous giftthe Bhabha bungalow (Mehrangir, a beautiful art deco bungalow on Malabar Hill) a few years back. Thanks to that, today we can with respect approach anybody for support and we are getting it as we need not beg now," he smiles.

The first performance at the NCPA complex was held in May 1975 at the Little Theatre, the first property and in October 1980 Indira Gandhi launched the Tata Theatre and in November 1999 the present Jamshed Bhabha Theatre was inaugurated, which was gutted in a massive fire.

In May last year, as part of 11th death anniversary of Bhabha, the NCPA inaugurated an exhibition of archival photographs that trace the milestones in Bhabha's journey, first as an executive with the Tata group, his marriage to Betty Irene and the eventual founding of the NCPA with JRD Tata.

The exhibition, 'Dr Jamshed Bhabha Remembered', is housed in the foyer of the theatre now.

Bhabha brought Suntook, who just wanted to lead a retired life after decades of service at the Tatas, to the NCPA in 2000 as vice-chairman, and following the demise of Bhabha at the age 93 on May 30, 2007, he took over as chairman early 2008.

The NCPA formed the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI), the country's first fully professional symphony orchestra in 2006.

It was founded by Suntook and internationally-renowned violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, who serves as the orchestra's music director.

Suntook describes the orchestra as "my passion as well as Dr Bhabha's passion."

Known for his many eccentricities, Bhabha did not want his mortal remains to be cremated.

Recalling his last moments, Suntook says "Bhabhas parting words to me were, 'N-C-P-A.' The institution was everything to him, and he was entrusting us with its care."

"Four hours later, our people were scattering his ashes over the plants in the NCPA complex. There was no funeral, nor were there condolence visits. The staff was back to work. And that was Jamshed Bbabha," reminisces Suntook, who was one of his closest associates.

Suntook dismisses criticism that the centre is promoting more of western music and also about the high cost of hiring an NCPA theatre.

"We have divided our programme into four genres --Indian music, Western music, dance, and theatre. And of the around 800 shows a year, only around 14 percent are western. If that is too much, I dont buy that argument," he says.

Suntook is bullish about theatre. "We will soon be finalising a tie-up with the National Theatre of London. We are also planning two big shows in the coming months in London and New York," he says.