Showtime’s Magnum Opus!

Five mega back-to-back events were organised in November 2011 to mark the milestones. Showtime handled all the events. The grand opening dinner at Mr. Singh’s residence in New Delhi set the tone for the festivities that followed. Over 300 high-profile guests from India and overseas were hosted in an ambience that was enlivening, yet homely. The challenge was to retain the “home” feel for a whopping guest list. Five clear-roof eastern hat marquees from Germany were set up at the venue for the first time in India, so that the guests could get an undisturbed view of the flora and fauna at the house, while enjoying the evening. On day two, over 1000 guests congregated at the DLF Golf Course at Gurgaon to party with Bollywood, first-hand. Power-packed performances by Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and others in an unconventional sound distribution set-up regaled the audience. Showtime overcame huge challenges to give the guests a great, natural experience of the golf course environs. 60,000 cubic meters of soil was shipped in to create an elevation of over fifteen feet over an area of 120 meters x 63 meters with solid iron foundation so that the 1000-odd guests could experience the spectacle with a view of the lake and the fairway. Yet again, clear-roof-marquees were used to give the guests an undisturbed view of the environs. A 63 meters x 5 meters living wall was created with foliage for effect. And, of course, there was the 100 meters wide cold pyro fountain that simply stunned the guests. Then came DLF Chairman’s book launch event, that had 16 horses, 40 lancers, began with a bugle call to action, premiered a docu-film by film doyen, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, saw the book being launched by a world icon like Jack Welch from 20,000 miles away through a live satellite link-up and ended with an eloquent tribute by the erudite Soli Sorabjee and a delightful performance by the talented Shillong Chamber Choir. The event had the head of the publishing company, Harper Collins, Aroon Purie say in his address, “Never has there been a book launch as grand as this and never will there be another one like it”. And then, the guests were transported to the beautiful city of Udaipur in Rajasthan for an unforgettable tryst with Shakira, who enthralled everyone with a one-hour headline act. The guests were also treated to an hour’s performance by Adnan Sami. While the venue – Jag Mandir – itself was transformed into an astonishing visual spectacle replete with spectacular decor and lighting effects drawing inspiration from the architectural language of the venue, the Pichola Lake was dotted with colourfully illuminated floating installations that integrated life-size swans, dancing balletists on floating pianos, aerial balloonists that skimmed the water surfaces, zorbs, topped up with Rajasthani Nagada drummers and dancers. The guests were wowed by this unbelievable lake experience even before they had reached the venue! The challenges at Udaipur were humungous. Over 400 tonnes of material and equipment were ferried in to the Jag Mandir Island on Lake Pichola (which was the event venue), with a limited number of boats at hand. The entire set-up for the show was done in eight days flat. And, the venue was cleared in 36 hours after the show got over.