Fun Pickle, known for bringing Broadway-style musicals from Mumbai to Calcutta, was back with a bang for their sixth edition of shows in the city, this time featuring Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and the Brothers Grimm’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at Kala Mandir on January 26 and 27. Featuring a bunch of talented actors from VAIPA (Vishaal Asraani’s Institute of Performing Arts), Mumbai, the shows were stunning spectacles, bringing to life these beloved classics by their use of original song and dance sequences, state-of-the-art sound and light effects, truly magical backdrops and sets, and bright, colourful costumes.
Baloo and Bagheera speak for Mowgli so that he can take his place in the council. They teach him all the laws of the jungle, and he comes to be known as the man-cub, or Mowgli the Frog
In association with t2 and sponsored by Shree Cement, Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd, Admission Tree, and CDC Printers, the shows were catered especially to young children, who came along with their families and friends, and brought the house down with their overflowing enthusiasm.
t2 dropped by to watch The Jungle Book on the evening of Republic Day, and could not think of a better way to get started with the long weekend that followed. The shenanigans of Kipling’s Mowgli and his life among the Seeonee wolf pack have often been represented on the silver screen (mostly thanks to Disney), but theatrical showcases of the same have been few and far between, with Broadway-style musicals of the same much less talked about in theatre circuits in Calcutta.
Director and theatre producer Jiji Subi, the other half of VAIPA’s Vishaal-Jiji duo, is on a mission to change that. “Performing for the crowd in Calcutta is always a fantastic experience, because of the rich theatrical heritage of the city, but honestly speaking, there’s not much going on here in terms of entertainment for children. In Mumbai, as well, ours is one of those rare theatre groups that put up multiple children’s productions year after year, and the major factor is that we’ve got kids as well as adults acting in our shows. So, you get a mix of both, and we adapt all these classic stories in a way that they leave strong messages for the children who come to watch them. We call it edutainment, in the sense that we try to educate the kids through entertainment, and with every show it gets more exciting than before,” he said.
Mowgli, accompanied by his wolf pack (Raksha, Rama, and his wolf brothers), Bagheera, and Baloo, at the end of the show, when he realises he must go back to the man-village
Neha Bhatnagar and Richa Daga of Fun Pickle were all smiles at the end of the show. “This is our sixth time bringing such shows to Calcutta, and the footfall this time has been the highest since the first year we put this together! It was great to see the audience back, especially because we had to take a break during Covid. We’d invited some children from NGOs this time around as well, and everyone seemed to have a good time,” they said. “The show is very well-organised. The energy of the kids is the driving factor here, and Calcutta needs events like these more often. This is a fantastic show,” said HM Bangur, chairman of Shree Cement.