The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre Opens in Mumbai
India's largest private arts venue opened on 31 March 2023 in the Bandra Kurla Complex, with a 2,000-seat theatre under a ceiling of 8,400 crystals, a four-storey gallery and works by Yayoi Kusama.
The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre opened in Mumbai on 31 March 2023. It was founded by Nita Ambani, who chairs the Reliance Foundation, with the stated aim of preserving and promoting the arts of India and bringing international productions to the country. It is known by its initials, NMACC.
The venues
The centre forms part of the Jio World Centre, a complex of convention halls, shops and offices in the Bandra Kurla Complex, the business district in the north of the city.
It has three stages. The Grand Theatre seats 2,000 on three levels. Its ceiling is set with 8,400 crystals that can be lit in changing colours, and it is described as the most technically advanced theatre in India, built to take large touring musicals. The Studio Theatre has 250 seats on a movable platform that can be rearranged for different kinds of performance. The Cube is a room for 125, intended for new and experimental work.
The fourth element is the Art House, a gallery of four storeys with about 1,500 square metres of exhibition space, which has shown Indian and international contemporary art.
The art in the building
The public areas hold several large commissions. The most striking is Kamal Kunj, a painting in the Pichwai tradition of Rajasthan, in which lotuses and cows surround the figure of Krishna. It is 56 feet high and is said to be the largest of its kind. Yayoi Kusama’s Clouds, a group of mirrored steel forms, lies on the floor of the concourse. There are also works by Indian contemporary artists.
The programme
The centre opened with three events over a weekend: a musical on the history of Indian performance, an exhibition of Indian dress and its influence on Western fashion, and an art show. Within two months it had staged The Sound of Music, the first time a Broadway production of that scale had played in India. West Side Story, Mamma Mia! and others have followed, alongside classical Indian music and dance, regional theatre and concerts.
For travellers
The Bandra Kurla Complex is about twenty minutes from the international airport and forty minutes to an hour from the hotels of south Mumbai, depending on traffic. The centre adjoins a luxury shopping mall and several restaurants. Tickets are sold online, and prices for the big musicals are comparable with London or New York. The Art House is ticketed separately and is worth a visit in itself.
Mumbai is the starting or finishing point of two itineraries of the Maharajas’ Express. For the country’s older cultural landscape, see our pieces on Santiniketan and the Hoysala temples.