I Want To Represent The Youth Of Our Country
THE WEEK India|May 14, 2023
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Nita Ambani founder and chairperson, Reliance Foundation | As founder of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, she wants to make art accessible to all Indians; as an IOC member, she wants to bring the Olympics to India; and as a mother and grandmother, she wants to pass on humility and traditional values to her children
RIYAD MATHEW, POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL AND DNYANESH JATHAR
I Want To Represent The Youth Of Our Country

We are at Mumbai’s newest landmark, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, on a Monday evening. Preparations are in full swing for the award-winning Broadway musical—Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music— which will begin playing early May. Ambani says this will be the first time an international Broadway production will be staged in India, and the entire team has flown down from the US and will stay for almost a month. Nita Ambani, who is personally involved with everything at the NMACC, has just held a mahurat puja ahead of the show, after which she meets us. It is 8pm on International Workers’ Day, and Ambani looks radiant in a pink sari, as if her day has just begun. She is self-effacing and gregarious as she warms up for a candid conversation with THE WEEK, along with a mug of coffee.

“I don’t even have any concept of what I do at this moment... between Mumbai Indians (her IPL team) and the stage puja for The Sound of Music. They (performers) were so taken in with the whole experience. They said it is better than any theatre they have performed in.... We should do anything that brings Indian art and culture into the spotlight. I talk as a mother and a grandmother. We don’t want to lose all this,” she says, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

The NMACC, which is a part of the larger Jio World Centre in Mumbai’s plush business district of Bandra Kurla Complex, consists of the 2,000-seater Grand Theatre, the 250-seater The Studio Theatre and the 125-seater The Cube. The aim, says Ambani, is to provide an accessible space for the exhibition of Indian and international art and culture.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE WEEK INDIAView all
William Dalrymple goes further back
THE WEEK India

William Dalrymple goes further back

Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
The bleat from the street
THE WEEK India

The bleat from the street

What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Courage and conviction
THE WEEK India

Courage and conviction

Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
EPIC ENTERPRISE
THE WEEK India

EPIC ENTERPRISE

Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus

time-read
4 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Upgrade your jeans
THE WEEK India

Upgrade your jeans

If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Garden by the sea
THE WEEK India

Garden by the sea

When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus

time-read
4 mins  |
November 17, 2024
RECRUITERS SPEAK
THE WEEK India

RECRUITERS SPEAK

Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
MORAL COMPASS
THE WEEK India

MORAL COMPASS

The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape

time-read
5 mins  |
November 17, 2024
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
THE WEEK India

B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH

INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
COURSE CORRECTION
THE WEEK India

COURSE CORRECTION

India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI

time-read
8 mins  |
November 17, 2024