For most people, the festive season means dressing up, shopping, praying, dancing and so on. For those of us interested in or involved in the field of culture, literature and the performing arts, celebration time is when the ‘season’ starts post-monsoon—though in Mumbai, plays and gigs happen all round the year.

My festive season commenced with a lovely production of Beauty And The Beast—with all the grandeur and stage magic of a Disney musical, but done with an Indian cast and crew and directed by Vikranth Pawar. The huge Dome at the NSCI was converted into an auditorium, showing off huge and and beautiful sets, peppy music and dance set pieces, gorgeous costumes — everything a fairy tale should be. When Meher Mistry plays Belle with such spirit and intelligence (she loves books), for once the quibble about how archaic these stories now seem, can be put aside. Now, what are they going to do for an encore? And once it has been proved that such a spectacle can be pulled off in India, the expectations from live entertainment are bound to shoot up.