Ramayana in Karachi

A Karachi theatre group staged the Ramayana — in Sanskrit, with AI, and a cross-cultural cast.

Transcript

00:00A Hindu epic on stage in Karachi.

00:09This is Ramayana being performed not in Ayodhya or Delhi but in Pakistan.

00:14What turned heads wasn't just the location.

00:16It was that a Pakistani troupe performed one of India's most sacred Hindu epics in Sanskrit

00:21with a cast of both Muslim and Hindu actors and AI in the wings.

00:25At a time when Hindu epics rarely reached public stages in Pakistan,

00:33it was Moj, a Karachi-based theatre group that took the leap led by director Yogeshwar Carrera.

00:39I don't think it was even in my head, oh, I'm doing it in Karachi, I'm doing Ramayana in Karachi.

00:43It was just a story that just fascinated me, it was just a nice story to tell.

00:47Carrera didn't need to win anyone over, not the cast, not the funders.

00:51The only question was, how are we doing it?

00:53Once the cast and crew were on board, a new question took over.

00:57Would anyone in Karachi actually show up to watch a Hindu epic?

01:01The response generally was very positive.

01:03I mean, I was hoping that I would get people that didn't know the story

01:07because I was really doing it for that because there was no commentary in it.

01:11And while the story was ancient, the tools weren't.

01:14Moj used AI-generated visuals to build surreal shifting backdrops

01:18from Ravan's golden Lanka to the forests of exile.

01:22He used AI and he gave AI prompts.

01:24And from those prompts, what we got was amazing.

01:27And so we thought maybe we need to animate this and, you know, use this only.

01:31The cast didn't just bridge languages or religions, it bridged worlds.

01:35On this stage, Sanskrit met Urdu.

01:37A Hindu epic was carried by voices that had never told it before.

01:41We asked Carrera if Ramayan might one day cross the border.

01:45Would Moj want to bring the play to India?

01:47And Fawad Khan is not doing that film anymore than who am I?

01:51Who will take me?

01:52The future at this moment looks Greek.

01:55In Karachi, Ramayan has already drawn full houses.

01:58Whether or not it crosses borders next,

02:01it's a quiet reminder that stories find their way.

02:04Sometimes, all it takes is a stage.

02:06Will you come over to your house?

02:07Will you have any work done?

02:08Will your own work done?

02:10Will your own work done?

02:11If you have any work done?

02:12In Karachi, Ramayan and Afri, Kalachi was in the UK's government department.

02:15You have to take her to leave.