Everyone (including Abhishek Bachchan!) was pretty thrilled to hear about Mumbai’s first Bollywood Flashmob at CST station. Well as it happens, the very lovely Devangi Nishar of Aza, who I recently met when we went hunting for Nowshad’s wedding wardrobe happened to take part in it so she agreed to give me a behind the scenes look, cool eh? xoxo
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Exactly three years after 162 people were killed or injured on 26/11, Mumbai’s first flash mob demonstrated the unity, strength, and indestructibility of our citizens. Together, we commemorated lives lost and celebrated rebirth.
Admittedly, I was dubious when I first heard that hundreds of people would break into unexpected, coordinated dance at CST station on Sunday, November 27th. Albeit cool in theory, the notion of a flash mob in Mumbai seemed peculiar. I was nervous. Would I look foolish bursting randomly into dance? What if the performance incited a stampede?
Fortunately, organizer Shonan Kothari planned and executed every minute detail to perfection. Spread primarily through word of mouth, the online registration prompted over 300 sign ups in 2 days. The large group was divided into four batches, with practices held at Priyadarshini Park’s yoga studio. Given the extensive logistics involved – choreographers, videographers, practices, location management – I was amazed by how smoothly things panned out.
Practices were fun and productive, complete with chocolates and bottled water to fuel us. Videos of the dance were posted in a private Facebook group so we could rehearse at home. At a final practice on Saturday, we were handed comprehensive instructions. No pebble was left unturned: we even received a mock illustration of CST station with arrows indicating placements of cameramen, participants by batch, and registration area.
On Friday, we congregated at the relatively discreet platform 7, attempting hopelessly to amalgamate with the background as we anxiously awaited the performance. We were dancing to “Rang De Basanti,” the title track of a film about defying the status quo and inspiring change – an apt choice. The song epitomized our experience: “thoda chidak chidak, thoda hila hila, phir ek rang tu khila khila” – sprinkle a little, shake a little, then radiate one color.
Two performances were scheduled: at 4:52pm, and 5:33pm. For both, all trains and announcements at CST station were stopped. As the clock ticked, I nervously reviewed the choreography in my head.
Dancing with hundreds of Indians in a national landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site was exhilarating. Hordes of viewers swarmed around the first few dancers, and performers elbowed their way through to merge with the flash mob. For four minutes, time stopped, and I was consumed by joie de vivre. The unparalleled energy of our cohort infused the station with vibrancy and excitement I have never experienced before. As surprised commuters stood spell bound, and some even joined in, I realized how truly memorable this experience would be. We were making history. “Jin me ho junoon junoon woh boondein lal lahoon ke”: In which there is passion and vitality, those drops of red blood.
A timeline of communication and practice videos can be viewed on the Facebook group page.