Bhansali's 'Padmavati' opera premieres at Paris' Theatre Du Chatelet

New York, June 28 : Bollywood filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much anticipated opera 'Padmavati' has now premiered at Theatre Du Chatelet in Paris.

Bhansali is the first Indian to direct an opera in Paris, which made its debut at the 51st Spoleto festival.

The Bollywood-style production of the early-20th-century opera-ballet by Albert Roussel, one of the greatest yet least understood masters of French music, was entirely looked after by Indians.

The production team includes: Tanusree Shankar (of the Ravi Shankar artistic clan) provided the choreography, Omung Kumar Bhandula the sets, Rajesh Pratap Singh the costumes.

While talking about his magnum opus, Bhansali, 43, said creating the production was a nerve-racking experience and added that he had never seen an opera before.

When he first saw the score, he said, "I didn't understand a thing of it."

"For me, the visual comes first," the New York Times quoted him, as saying.

But he said he has always loved music and began as a choreographer.

The opera retells a 13th Century Hindu tragedy from Chitoor, the city that Roussel visited during 1909.

It is a lyrical tale of Queen Padmavati falling prey to a morally reprehensible bargain where she stabs her husband to save her honor and then commits 'sati' like any other faithful wife of that era.

ANI