Jaanta Raja's world premiere at Wembley

VADODARA: For the first time, Jaanta Raja -- the famous theatrical biopic depicting the life Shivaji Maharaj will travel to the Wembley Arena in London next year.
It will be a sort of world premiere of the theatre production designed in classic Greek play style. Vadodara-based organizers have booked the SSE Arena at Wembley for June 20-21, next for the gala play that has clocked an audience of over 1.5 crore so far.
The performance at London will be staged with the large entourage of over 250 artists, horses, elephants and camels that will perform at the indoor stadium on a specially designed colossal 55-feet-high revolving multi-dimensional stage.
"The stage for the show will be shipped from Mumbai to London. Since the SSE Arena also hosts Spanish riding shows, horses are readily available there while we are trying to arrange for elephants and camels," says Shantanu Shukdevkar, who along with Dhairyashil Patil from the city and UK-based Chetan Harpale is organizing the epic drama with the support of Gujarat Tourism.
"We are also inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister David Cameron apart from the British Royal Family for the show, which will be the 1,001th show promoting Shivaji as a global icon and as an able administrator and people's king," he added
"While all the main characters that form the core group of the play will travel from Pune we will rope in some British citizens so that they can perform the roles of British characters in the play," says Patil, adding that the arena at Wembley has special tracks on which animals can walk.
The play, written and directed by eminent historian Babasaheb Purandare, celebrates landmark moments in the life of Shivaji ? from the joy of his birth to the tragic death of his father, the martial arts practised by young Shiva, his guerrilla army and the grand coronation ceremony of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj.