In 2002, when I visited the National Police Academy (NPA) at Hyderabad to attend a seminar on National Security, we were taken to see the sound and light show at Golconda fort. This was started in 1993, much after we had passed out from NPA. It was the first sound and light show I’d ever seen. I was stunned!
It started with a mesmerising ghazal by Jagjit Singh:
There was a beauty of splendour here
Its fame enthralled many all over the world
The
place used to echo with the laughter of queens and princesses
It bore witness to the kings’ pomp and pageantry …
[Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTT-EucsqA]
Then, Amitabh Bachchan’s voice took over, “Come, friends, come this way please …”
The show was for one hour. With questions and answers, Amitabh Bachchan took us through the entire history of the fort from the time Prataprudra built the fort in the 1tth Century through its development by the Kakatiyas, Bahmani Sultans, Sultan Quli and so on. The narration included reenacted conversations between certain key personae in history and with tremendous sound effects like that of horses galloping and neighing, war drums and so on and differential lighting focusing on different parts of the fort at different levels in sync with the events being described, it transported us to the bygone eras which we felt we were ourselves inhabiting during that hour. The coloured lighting focused in turns on Diwan-e-khas, Rani Mahal, Sultan’s chambers and while being narrated, a lit-up fountain suddenly sprang to life. So did a beam highlighting the Koh-i-Noor diamond which is supposed to have either originated in the Golconda mines or adorned the Golconda vaults initially.
When the one and a half month siege of the fort by Aurangzeb was depicted we felt we were inside the fort with the vast Mughal army barracked outside. When the negotiation between the queen and Aurangzeb happened and Aurangzeb extracted a heavy price for lifting the siege, we were flies on the wall watching and listening to the exchanges.
The romance between Sultan Qutb Shah and Bhagmati and the risks the former took to meet her, defying royal edict against it, was poignantly portrayed with great sound effects and exchanges.
Golconda fort has a unique architecture and built on several tiers/ levels. This made for riveting details in the narration. It has a seven kilometer surrounding wall, four drawbridges, eight gates and 87 bastions. The fort has an amazing acoustic system which is a technical and engineering marvel. It was designed in such a way that a clap at the entrance is transmitted a kilometer away to the main fort three levels up but could not be heard a meter away. This was for announcing arrivals and warning against attacks. The gates were designed in such a way with narrow entrances and giant iron spikes that the elephants couldn’t charge and bring them down. That is why Aurangzeb resorted to sorrrounding the fort for one and half months in the first instance and later, for eight months.
When the show ended after an hour, each one in the packed audience burst into spontaneous applause.
Later I saw the sound and light shows at the cellular jail in Port Blair and Lal Qila in Delhi but those were just not a patch on the one at Golconda fort. Whenever anyone I knew was visiting Hyderabad, I used to urge him to make it a point to catch the show at Golconda. It truly showcased the brilliant talent of India in art and music, its famed "soft" power. I wanted to see it again too. The opportunity came during a recent visit and the experience was heart-breaking.
For reasons completely unknown, the authorities have taken something utterly brilliant and replaced it with a tedious, almost unwatchable excretion of half an hour duration. My first indication came when I saw most of the chairs empty – it used to get really crowded earlier. Gone are the music and the Jagjit Singh ghazals. Gone also is the highlighting of the fort and its different aspects. The drama is missing in the narration which is now a flat reading. Some pictures are shown on a single wall – one may as well see it on a computer screen at home. The exquisite sound effects are all gone. There is nothing in the depiction about the technical and engineering marvel that is Golconda fort. And, for some reason, Shivaji Maharaj has entered the narration.
Not only that no one clapped at the end, people had started leaving much before the whittled-down half-an-hour tedium ended.
I came away utterly dejected and googled to learn why. Apparently, the change was done to incorporate 3D mapping projection with high-resolution projectors, laser lights and moving heads. Why it couldn’t have been done while retaining the earlier out-of-the-world narration, music and highlighting is one question I couldn’t find an answer to. What upset me the most was that the change came about just 3-4 months back. Had I visited just a few months back, I could have re-lived that beautiful experience all over again.
I wonder why there hasn’t been any protest against this mindless modification. There should have been. There should be. For those who might like to get somewhat reminded of the old glorious thing, here are the links to what someone has posted on YouTube in three parts. The experience of sitting at the fort and the audio quality can’t be there but one gets the idea of how much better the old version was. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
Part 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Lelmz3JS0
Part 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfiSufcer3Y
Part 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIv3ykTaRoU
[Queen Bhagmati entering the fort]
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