Indrani Mukerjea's 'Nayika Bhoomika' brings Tagores women to the foreground with its latest dance drama 'Nayaka Bhoomika'

VMPL
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 10: The dance drama travels to New Delhi's Little Theatre Group, Mandi House on January 18, 2026.On a stage stripped of excess and shaped by movement, Nayika Bhoomika opened in Mumbai on January 9 at St Andrew's Auditorium, Bandra, offering an evening that unfolds steadily rather than in fragments. Produced by Indrani Mukerjea Enterprise, the dance drama draws from four Tagore works -- Chokher Bali, Chandalika, Kabuliwala and Maan Bhonjon -- and presents them as one continuous theatrical journey.
Mukerjea anchors the production, both, as an actor and as a producer. As an actor, she steps into contrasting emotional landscapes as Binodini and Giribala. Her performances set the tempo of the evening, allowing the narratives to accumulate meaning as they progress, instead of seeking punctuation at the end of each story.
"Tagore trusted his women with complexity," said Mukerjea, speaking to the press after the Mumbai performance. "What stayed with me was how rarely they are allowed that patience on stage. This work tries to slow things down, so their inner lives are not rushed past."
Conceived, directed and choreographed by Madhumita Chakraborty and Tony Chakraborty, Nayika Bhoomika relies on dance as a thinking process rather than a visual flourish. The cast includes Manini De as the Sutradhar, Aakriti Sharma, Subrat Panda, Madhumita Chakraborty, Nilesh Khandalkar, Nivedita Mohapatra, Sunil Bhuvad and a supporting ensemble of dancers. The production's music is composed and directed by Santanu Bhattacharya, with arrangements by Abani Mohan Biswas. Vocals by Ujjal Mukherjee and Sharmistha Ghosh and choral passages by the Khanika Choir of Serampore lend texture to the score. Lighting design by Abhishek Narayan and Chetan Dhawale and sets by Kailash Shelar frame the movement without overt symbolism.
"For us, the challenge was restraint," said Madhumita Chakraborty. "Knowing when not to move was as important as knowing when to move. That balance became the emotional grammar of the piece."
"As actors, we focus on flow," said Manini De. "The audience should feel carried from one story to the next, without being pulled out by technical or musical emphasis."
Following its Mumbai opening, Nayika Bhoomika moves next to New Delhi, where it will be staged at the Little Theatre Group, Mandi House on January 18, 2026, continuing its trajectory as a work that privileges continuity, listening and interiority over spectacle.
"Nayika Bhoomika isn't meant to impress; it's meant to stay," said Mukerjea. "What lingers after the lights fade matters more than what dazzles in the moment."
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