Traditional dance, music, theater, crafts, clothing and more get top-notch exposure at this state-of-the-art complex created by India’s wealthiest family
By Lavina Melwani, New York
No other country in the world has riches of the arts to compare with India: 5000-year-old dance forms, music from classical to modern to jazz, hundreds of languages, theater in every dialect and visual arts from ancient to contemporary. Thanks to the astute Ambani family, India’s most powerful business house, India now has a gorgeous jewel box in Mumbai to showcase these magnificent arts and performers: the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. The Centre is shrewdly embedded in the massive Jio World Centre complex, so that culture, commerce and consumerism are intermixed, all next to each other, in order to meet all the needs of a fast-moving international city. Its facade, right next to a waterjet show called Fountain of Joy, welcomes visitors with a larger-than-life cuff bracelet design inspired by India’s rich heritage.
This cutting-edge Centre, the epitome of an international world-class theater, started as the small personal dream of a child living in this crowded city by the sea. Nita Ambani grew up as Nita Dalal in a middle-class family. She was only six years old when she embarked on her love affair with Indian dance. She became passionately dedicated to all of India’s art forms. As the wife of Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, India’s richest billionaire industrialist, Nita Ambani is a philanthropist and chairperson of the Reliance Foundation. She opened this performing arts and multi-disciplinary cultural and exhibition space on March 31, 2023. At the inauguration, she said, “For me, dance is a form of meditation. Something inside me connected so deeply to the world of arts.”
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Photo: All Images Courtesy NMACC
Her daughter, Isha Ambani, co-director with her at the Centre, says, “My mom is a philanthropist, educationist and businesswoman, but at her core, her strongest identity is that of a dancer. For more than 50 years she has danced every day. Her passion for the arts is unparalleled, and she has always wanted to create a space dedicated to the heritage and culture of India.” Appropriately enough, NMACC’s opening evening was marked by the debut of the theatrical experience, “The Great Indian Musical: Civilization to Nation,” celebrating Indian dance, drama, music and art by playwright and director Feroz Abbas Khan.
I was invited to explore the Centre on its off day. With no crowds, I had the run of the place to myself. It was a strange sensation, as if I were the sole inhabitant of this elaborate palace, without the cacophony of multiple voices or the echoes of thousands of footfalls.
Three Show Halls
The Centre has three halls to accommodate all kinds of shows, from the biggest international openings to small, intimate workshops. Here, technology is king. The Grand Theatre is the most advanced in India, with a combination of world-class surround sound, a virtual acoustic system and a programmable lighting system enhanced by 8,400 dazzling Swarovski crystals. It can seat 2,000 people across various price levels; the 18 Diamond boxes have a special lounge. Dedicated to the latest trends in design, it uses special absorbent wood that reduces reflections. It also incorporates some of the best user-friendly traits of theaters abroad, such as assistive learning devices and accessibility for the disabled.
At the time of this writing, one could attend a medley of plays in Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi; Kathak, Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dance performances; and classical musical evenings with noted artists. A walk through the website’s calendar, nmacc.com, shows a breathtaking range of events, touching all aspects of Indian cultural life. There’s even The Kaavad Project’s Maya, a performance in Hindi verse devoted to the ancient Kaavad storytelling tradition, unknown to many even in India. The Grand Theatre also hosts international shows, including Broadway shows from the US.
What about local, home-grown shows? The 250-seat Studio Theatre is just the right space for more intimate performances by new artists as well as established artists. It features a telescopic seating system that allows seat transformation depending on the needs of the event and artistic flexibility. It also features a tension wire grid, the first of its kind in India, for flawless lighting and rigging during production.
The third performance hall is the 125-seat Cube. With a moveable stage and seating, it can be transformed to host a variety of performances, making it an incubator for emerging Indian artists in new and experimental theater, spoken word, stand-up comedy and music. The space features a laser projection system and an Assisted Listening system. Infrared emitters enhance each performance. The filming and streaming of live performances is facilitated by a fully integrated video recording and production setup and 5G connectivity.
The Art House
Then there’s the Art House, which can compare to any world-class museum. This four-story space showcases a shifting array of Indian and global art installations and exhibits. Keeping community building and collaboration at its core, the Art House encourages new talent while enabling India to see the world through a wider cultural lens.
The several prominent public art installations include Kamal Kunj, one of the largest commissioned Pichwai paintings at 56 feet tall, depicting scenery from the life of Krishna, and Clouds, a 90-piece set of stainless steel structure mirrors by Yayoi Kusama, displayed on the ground. Other memorable art pieces include Tanya Goel’s Mechanism 12, in which she uses pigments from the sites of architectural demolitions in and around Delhi, and Arboretum I, a work by artist duo Thukral & Tagra, comprising illustrations of over 60 floral species from across India.
A big exhibit in 2023 was India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination. As the noted designer Manish Malhotra says: “Nita has always been an avid supporter of uplifting the age-old crafts that constitute the cultural legacy of our country, and we have been united by our shared love for heritage-driven crafts. The NMACC is where we will get to see more of the untouched arts of India, and this will hopefully be the beginning for the awakening of appreciation for our profound culture.”
Perhaps the most important part of the Art House is Swadesh, Nita Ambani’s tribute to the forgotten craftspeople of India, who are a dying breed unless efforts such as these strengthen and fortify crafts as a viable option of livelihood. Swadesh, an India-inspired art and craft exposition on the ground-level concourse, celebrates this legacy through an ever-evolving showcase of regional artistry from across the nation. It serves as an interactive platform where master artisans on-site in pavilions share their crafts and stories with visitors from around the world. Ambani has worked with these weavers and craftspeople for a long time through Reliance Foundation. The expositions provide livelihoods for the craftspeople, including the sightless.
This showcase has celebrated over 30 iconic Indian crafts so far, including Pichwai painting, Sozni embroidery and Blue Pottery. In early 2025, visitors will see craftspeople working on Kanjivaram silk of Tamil Nadu, Banarasi brocade from Varanasi, Thewa jewelry of Rajasthan, Thangka paintings from Ladakh and Sikkim, and Sunrise Candles from Maharashtra. Each craft has a fascinating story behind it, going centuries into the past.
Kanjivaram silk sarees, from the sacred town of Kanchipuram, are known for their lush hues, intricate designs and unparalleled craftsmanship. Steeped in legend, the weavers of Kanjivaram are believed to trace their heritage to Sage Markanda, the divine master weaver of the Gods. Each sari is a masterpiece, meticulously woven using the age-old korvai technique, where borders are crafted with real gold or silver zari. Kanjivaram saris are more than just garments—they are a canvas of cultural storytelling, with motifs drawn from temple architecture, epics and the natural world.
Thewa jewelry, from the vibrant town of Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, is a centuries-old craft that fuses delicate gold designs with colored glass, creating pieces of breathtaking beauty. Today, just 12 families in Pratapgarh continue to preserve this rich legacy. Each piece of Thewa tells a story, depicting scenes of nature, royal life and majestic hunts. Celebrated globally, these creations have found a place in prestigious museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Sunrise Candles, founded by Dr. Bhavesh Chandubhai Bhatia, is a story of empowerment and social transformation in Maharashtra. This initiative offers employment to the visually impaired, who handcraft a range of candles of beauty and utility.
Sustainability and Visitors
This jewel box is very much a part of the sustainability culture of the future: it is Platinum LEED compliant and surrounded by over 700 native trees. Nearly 75% of all regularly occupied areas are designed to receive natural daylight, resulting in saving 40% of normal energy costs.
In the end, it’s very much a people’s house. Anyone from the streets can come enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the Fountain of Joy and the stunning water, lights and music show which is held every week from Wednesday through Sunday. They do have to get a pass via their mobiles for entry, but it’s free to see this choreographed show with water jets of changing color shooting 45 feet high to synchronized music. In the café, too, items are economically priced, so a middle-class family can eat out together, even without attending a performance.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors, both local and international, have passed through the doors of the arts center to see a show, experience the crafts or stage a family wedding. Aroon Shivdasani of New York, founder of the award-winning Indo-American Arts Council, is one such visitor. She says, “The Nita Ambani Centre is a cultural haven for both artists and audiences. Artists have several smaller auditoriums and rehearsal spaces to work in; while for audiences, it is well worth trotting out to the Centre to indulge in the multiple cultural presentations and then finish off the day with a mouthwatering meal in one of the adjacent restaurants.”
From nurturing aspiring artists to showcasing India’s crafts and talent to the world and bringing global artists to India, a young girl’s improbable dream has become a reality. The Nita Ambani Cultural Centre is a blueprint and a talisman for young Indians yearning to create a new and vibrant India.