Commissions

Clay Play brings together a collection of percussion instruments primarily made from clay, each with its own distinct playing technique. At the heart of the ensemble is the ghumat, a traditional instrument from Goa. To further highlight Goan folk culture, the performance also features other regional percussion instruments such as the samel, ghum, dhol, tasha, and zhanj. Together, they aim to recreate the vibrant soundscape of a Jagor, a traditional Goan procession accompanied by dynamic and rhythmic musical expressions as it moves through villages.

Commissioned by Serendipity Arts for Serendipity Arts Festival 2025.

Fading Traditions, Emerging Sounds is a contemporary musical experience that seamlessly blends the rich heritage of Indian classical music with the expressive energy of modern sounds. Showcasing collaborations between revered maestros and innovative musicians, the project creates a powerful dialogue between tradition and modernity. By reinterpreting classical forms through a fresh, contemporary lens, it crafts a soundscape that is both deeply rooted and boldly forward-looking. Intricate rhythms and soulful vocals lend emotional depth, while inventive arrangements push the boundaries of familiar musical expressions. Each performance becomes a celebration of continuity and transformation, honoring the timeless essence of classical traditions while embracing the evolving language of global music. This fusion is not just a stylistic experiment, but a meaningful exploration of cultural memory and artistic innovation.

Fading Traditions, Emerging Sounds invites audiences on a journey where the echoes of the past resonate with the creative spirit of the present.

Commissioned by Serendipity Arts for Serendipity Arts Festival 2025.

Dard-e-Disco is a nostalgic musical journey that pays tribute to the golden age of Bollywood disco — an era where timeless melodies met the pulsating energy of the dance floor. Honoring the iconic works of visionaries like Bappi Lahiri, Kalyanji-Anandji, and Biddu, the concert celebrates their groundbreaking compositions in all their glory, infused with an avant-garde twist. Focusing on the era’s unforgettable anthems, the performance revives the glamour, rhythm, and spirit that defined a generation. With powerful vocals, vibrant arrangements, and bold stagecraft, Dard-e-Disco creates an immersive experience that bridges eras. It’s a celebration of music that transcended borders and genres, where Bollywood’s melodic richness merged seamlessly with the global sound of disco. This evocative tribute invites audiences to relive the magic of a dazzling time, wrapped in a soundscape that feels both timeless and thrillingly alive.

Commissioned by Serendipity Arts for Serendipity Arts Festival 2025.

A Celebration of Jazz

From smoky ballads and powerful blues to smooth standards and bold improvisations, The Gold Standard promises a musical journey that is both nostalgic and thrillingly alive.

Gary Lawyer, often hailed as the “man with the golden voice,” takes the stage with his signature baritone and classic charm. Sharing the spotlight are the electrifying Vasundhara Vee, whose fierce artistry and deep love for jazz make her one of the most exciting voices in the Indian music landscape today, and the supremely talented Aria Nanji, whose soulful interpretations and effortless range add a fresh and captivating dimension to the evening.Backed by a band of stellar musicians, the concert pays homage to the legacy of jazz while offering fresh interpretations and  a contemporary edge. 

Commissioned by Serendipity Arts for Serendipity Arts Festival 2025.

Curated as part of ‘Scores in Transit: Resonances of the Plural’

On three panels that form an open square room, mini performances unfold on streets, balconies, and in doors and windows. Circle of Stories is a collaboration between an artist and theatre performers. Sunil Mehra along with Pallav Mishra, Enab Khizra and Mohammed Aqib chose short texts and poems to be woven into a tapestry of diverse performances performed within the Dastangoi tradition while theatre activist Lokesh Jain wrote (and also performed in) brief scenarios for Chavi Jain, Paridhi, Pakhi Jain, Shahana, Aara, Arun Kumar Kalra, Monty, Rizwan, Aurengzeb, Poonam, Rekha and Vikram.

In this multi-sensory installation Kaleka’s longstanding repertoire of immersive, timebased media environments comes into conversation with different traditions of theatre and storytelling. It layers poetry, dialogue, and narrative fragments onto architectural facades animated with characters who appear, reappear, and dissolve across windows, doors, and thresholds, inviting us into their stories. The city of Delhi is a key protagonist across this unfolding theatre, evoking the fluid, morphing presence of the storyteller across time and place. Here two forms of telling—contemporary street theatre in conversation with a storytelling tradition imported from the Persian courts by the Mughals and revived in 2005 by the legendary litterateur Shamsher Rahman Farooqi and his nephew Mehmood Farooqui. Using carefully choreographed projections and spatial design, it crafts an affective, atmospheric environment, weaving multiple encounters between architecture, memory, and language. The project continues Kaleka’s investigation into spatiality and interactivity in contemporary art, while anchoring itself in the timeless act of storytelling—of listening, imagining, and remembering. 

Special thanks to Sunil Mehra and Lokesh Jain who performed as well as worked on the scripts. Thanks to Subodh ji for assisting in the shooting at Mithai-Pul Basti.

Commissioned by Serendipity Arts for Serendipity Arts Festival 2025.

A Breath Held Long is a 20–25-minute video by Sudarshan Shetty that merges documentary filmmaking with theatre and music. Set within the charged, ever-shifting landscape of Mumbai, the film captures the tempo of the city through a series of long, single-line narratives performed by six to seven professional actors and a singer. Each voice adds to a growing chorus that meditates on the act of breathing – both as a basic human necessity and as a metaphor for survival, resilience, and the passage of time.

Accompanying the video are a series of sculptural objects by Shetty that extend the film’s thematic concerns into physical form. These objects, characteristic of Shetty’s sculptural language, serve as silent counterpoints to the spoken word. 

Together, the video and sculptures form an installation that asks — what it means to live and breathe — in a restless city.

Originally commissioned by Serendipity Arts for the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 and produced by Apostrophe 99