Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; March 30, 2014)

Vishal Bhardwaj has been invited to direct a play called A Flowering Tree at the prestigious state-owned Châtelet theatre in Paris. Châtelet is one of the biggest and most beautiful theatres in Paris, with its 2,000 seating and a history of 150-year-old performances. A Flowering Tree is a play adapted from A K Ramanujan’s famous poems based on Indian folk tales. The play had been adapted once before where Peter Sellars had directed it and John Adams, one of the most renowned contemporary music directors, had given the music. Vishal would be interpreting it in his own Indian style and has the much-acclaimed Dadi Pudumjee making puppets for the same. Talking to us, Vishal said, “I am really excited to be stage-directing a choir of 24 great singers with a 100-member philharmonic orchestra on such a prestigious platform. While making films, we are always only working towards making it a hit, whereas here the only thing they want me to focus on, is the purity of art and that is so wonderful. I am truly looking forward to spending my April in Paris with this pure form of art.” While Vishal will be leaving for Paris on April 2, the show premieres on May 5.