Magic of Rawla Narlai

Although this wasn’t the first show to air on the series this was the very first one we shot. Going in completely cold none of us had any idea what to expect. Except that we had to do something original.

What do you do when you show up to a small little town, three hours by road from Jodhpur, on perhaps one of the most potholed roads in India?

Well, if you have to go back with one full episode of Royal Reservation - you panic.

Well that is exactly what I did, since panicking is something that comes to me quite naturally!
But in the contrasts that are India a left turn here and a right turn there took us to an entirely different world.

We finally reached the palace hotel of Raghavendra Rathore. A white pebble driveway – large marble fountains with rose petals, beautiful palanquin, alabaster stairs, cool pavilions, top-end luxury - an oasis in a desert.

The show turned out to be our greatest experiment as we set out to execute a bright idea: Re-enacting anecdotes and legends of the region.

This was the turning point of our show, where with Siva’s dramatic lighting and Damini’s ready acting we shot our very first 're-enactment'.

The story of a princess warrior Rani Taramati and her prince charming. For our cast we hired a local horseman to play the part of a prince.
We shot by candlelight as he was mounted on a white stallion wielding a sword.

Back home in Delhi, on the edit table, Surat turned our little directorial debut into something of even greater mythic proportions and everyone still remembers this one as our strongest re-enactment yet.