SHRUTI SHARMA, show director of Disney’s Aladdin, has created a Broadway style musical which has Indian elements while remaining true to the original, says Saimi Sattar

There seems to be an organised chaos all around. Shruti Sharma, director of Disney’s Aladdin, is in the thick of things and says with a laugh, “I am almost pulling my hair out.” Despite the words, it is clear that she is clearly neck-deep into it and enjoying it. The show which premiered in Mumbai in April to packed houses and rave reviews will be staged in Delhi from July 6 to 15 at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium.

What makes Aladdin a universal show is its timeless appeal. “We grew up watching Aladdin on DD,” says Sharma but the one that she is directing has been adapted to the Indian context. The biggest challenge was to add an element of Hindi.

Moreover, the dresses, too, have been changed. If we talk about a princess, we naturally assume something elaborate. For Princess Jasmine, a haarem pant won’t do. So we added a net trail and a fuller skirt.”

But what Sharma has made sure is that the show remains true to the original. It is still set in Agrabah and not India. “We revisit the show. All of us have this sense of nostalgia,” she says.

To get it right, it was essential to get the cast right. “Everyone perceives the characters in animation. It was tough to cast real people. They dance and act in a certain way,” she says. Casting took long — about four to five months. So when zeroing down on the person to play Aladdin, they wanted a person who was endearing, with a heart of gold. “He did not really have to look the way he has been portrayed in the comics,” she asserts. Siddharth Menon and Taaruk Raina, both of whom play the character in rotation, embodied the qualities.

Sharma says that while they do have a back-up for each of the characters to tide over any emergency, Aladdin’s part in particular was very taxing. “It involved a lot of jumping around, running and it made sense to have two actors play it. I thought it is fair to give them a break.”

Sharma believes that Kira Narayanan, who plays the character of Princess Jasmine, is a great find. “She walked in at an open audition. She is one of those hidden talents.” RJ Mantra, who plays the genie, is another revelation. Says Sharma, “We’ve seen him as a brilliant artist but he is also a great mimic. He was practically living and breathing the part.”

Jaipur-born Sharma has been working to create larger-than-life stage dramas. She worked on Zangoora, the long-running musical at the Kingdom of Dreams in Gurugram and then went on to work with the director Vikranth Pawar on Disney India’s musical Beauty and the Beast (2015-16). So she is well aware of how to use huge sets, colourful costumes, great lighting, vibrant score and an energetic cast that can sing, dance, act and can combine to create a memorable spectacle.

However, doing a show of such a massive scale naturally means a lot of hurdles but Sharma has her own method of dealing with it. She says, “Surround yourself with people who share your vision and keep moving with with the idea of the scale and feel of the programme,” she says

The show, she predicts, will attract people across age groups. “The costumes and the production are such that they would appeal to the older audience. But then there is a princess, magic, colour and of course the story that it would be an instant hint with children.”

And how did she ensure that? “We made sure that we had fun while creating it. That fun anergy is transmitted to the audience as well,” she says. Didn’t we tell you, she loves the madness of the exercise?

Genie uncorked