Sep 23 2025 to Sep 23 2025 7 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Languages: Bhojpuri, Dakhni, English, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Rajasthani, Telugu, Tamil & Urdu.

Schoolgirls and secretaries, farmers and influencers, pregnant wives and pissed-off divorcees…

Winner of the 2023 Adishakti Theatriculate Fellowship, 8 is a solo dance-theatre performance re-imagining the classical Indian archetypes of the ashta nayika (eight heroines) as women of our times. Watch 8 women navigate relationships with their lovers in today’s diverse India.

An exciting smash-up of hip hop theatre and baithak abhinaya, this multilingual production features an original soundtrack by award-winning musicians that the Hindustan Times called, “strikingly beautiful.”

This production was created through the 2023 Theatriculate Fellowship awarded by Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research.

This performance is part of a 9-city tour, with upcoming stops in Mumbai, Bhopal, and Pune.

Please Note:
1. The performance will be accessible through English ‘sur’titles for all other languages.
2. This performance contains mature themes and imagery. Adults are responsible for curating their child’s experience.
3. Late entry will only be permitted at specific points during the show.
4. Photography and videography are strictly prohibited. All phones must be placed in secure fabric pouches provided at entry, which will be unsealed for you after the show.

Credits:
Producer: Deep Design
Script, Direction, Design and Performance: Deepa D.
Vocals and Composition: Bindhumalini, Charu Hariharan, Deepika Karthik Kumar, Gurupriya Atreya
Music Arrangement and Production: Vinayak Netke with Charu Hariharan and Hitesh Dhutia
Technical Direction: Niranjan Gokhale
Production and House Management: Leslie Andrews David
Original Lyrics: Bilqis Zafirul Hasan, Deepika Karthik Kumar, Kamala Das, Meenal Hajratwala, Muddupalani, Panchaphula Nandurekar, Vijayaraja Mallika
Traditional Lyrics Sources: Bali Gujar, Gangubai Chunchalwad, Hirabai Gynandev Chavan, Hira Sawant, Indubai Shedge, Lakshmi Bhilare, Malini Awasthi, Mukta Varat, Radha Sakpal, Saru Damle, Shahu Kamble, Sita Pimple, Sushma Pawar
Translations: Ann Grodzins Gold, Asha Ogale, Asha Singh, Balakrishnan Gayathri Raghavan, Charu Hariharan, Deeba Zafir, Deepa D., Deepika Karthik Kumar, Gautam Pemmaraju, Jitendra Maid, Maitreyee Kulkarni, Naghma Zafir, P. Vijaya Kumar, Rajani Khaladkar
Sound Engineering: Charu Hariharan, Maniratnam, Nalini Vittobane, Shriraman Chandrasekhar, Sidney Alberts, Vinayak Netke
Soundtrack Mixing and Mastering: Vinayak Netke
Projections Design: Percival Crasto
Additional Sound Editing: Adriel George
Additional Costumes: Sandhya Raman
Dramaturgical Assistance: Jin-Ming Lai
ADHD Coaching: Jennie Jordan
Poster Photography: Apoorva Saptarshi

Artistes

Deepa D
Script, Direction, Design, Performance
Deepa is a writer, designer and performance maker. She has written for The Caravan, Mint Lounge, and The Pioneer and co-authored Mapping Innovation in India’s Creative Industries (Routlage, 2023). Her play Kaikeyi (2006) was selected for NSD’s Bharat Rang Mahotsav. As a choreographer, Migrations (2010) was selected for the Chameleon festival in NYC, and Gandhi: Warp & Weft (2012) has toured eight Indian cities. She has been designing lights for dance and theatre since 2007, and has taught at the Drama School, Mumbai. She has performed and taught with The Natya Vriksha Dance Company and the Danceworx Company. She studied lighting design at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, while pursuing a BFA in Dance.

Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy
Vocals & Musical Composition
Bindhu constantly strives to explore avenues outside of her strict classical roots to play with the soul stirring power of music. She has journeyed to various hamlets, villages, cities and countries sharing the songs and poems of various mystic saints of India. She has directed music for feature and documentary films in Tamil, Kannada and other languages. She won the National Award and Filmfare Award as Best Singer for the songs she created in the film Nathicharami. She also won the 2023 META Award for Sound and Music Design for the play Do You Know This Song?

Charu Hariharan
Vocals, Musical Composition, Arrangement & Production
Charu Hariharan is a percussionist, singer, composer and a music producer. Though predominantly trained in Carnatic music, she has collaborated and performed with artists from across the world from multiple genres. Some of her notable collaborations include ‘O! Shakuntala’ with Grammy Nominated musician Pt. Debashish Bhattacharya, ‘Varldens Band’ – a world folk ensemble consisting of 13 musicians from 7 countries, ‘Spirala’ and ‘Crossover Project’ with Carola Ortiz. She has also composed for movies, documentaries and dance productions. She has worked with Oscar winning composers MM Keeravani (in RRR) and AR Rahman alongside Firdaus Orchestra.

Deepika Karthik Kumar
Vocals & Musical Composition
Deepika Karthik Kumar is a singer, songwriter, composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and vocal coach. She has a background in Carnatic and Hindustani, voice culture, as well as choral singing and western music theory. She is the founder of the independent band Kadhaigal and of The Students Project. Deepika is a member of The Indian Choral Ensemble as a singer and a contributor of compositions. Deepika also writes, composes and sings for movies and Bharatanatyam artists. Deepika holds master’s degrees in Human Genetics and Carnatic Music (vocals), and she is currently pursuing a doctorate that combines the two disciplines.

Gurupriya Atreya
Vocals & Musical Composition
Gurupriya Atreya is currently a disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khan. She lends her voice to singing playback for films, commercial jingles and voice overs. Her Independent single ‘Kula by Rashtra Kavi Kuvempu‘, was featured at The Times Literary Festival. She released the album Padma Paadham with songs composed by her father, as a tribute to her mother, Late Dr Padmavathy Shrinivasen. Through her projects The Living Room Kutcheri, Sing A Lullaby and the Arts Practitioner Programme, Gurupriya dreams of making a difference by bringing people, communities and cultures together holding each other to form an inclusive society at large.

Vinayak Netke
Music Arrangement, Production, Recording, Mixing & Mastering
Vinayak was the music director for two Hindi feature films—Michael, and Music Meri Jaan. and composed the background scores for Miss Tanakpur and Traffic. He composes music for television, ads, dance and theatre. As a tabla player, he has worked with artistes including Dr. N. Rajam, Dr. L. Subramaniam, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishori Amonkar, Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Suresh Wadkar and Rekha Bhardwaj. International bands that Vinayak composes, arranges, and plays for include the Indo-Slovenian band, Aritmija. The Balkan Indian fusion band, Zamee. the global fusion band RRC (Rajeev Raja Combine), and the world music ensemble Zariya.

Hitesh Dhutia
Music Arrangement & Production
Hitesh is a guitarist who enjoys arranging and designing sound scapes. Merging different musical genres, he has performed with diverse music and dance-theatre artists at festivals across the world, including the Koktebel Jazz party in Crimea, the Royal Festival Hall in London, and the Dancing the Gods Festival in New York City. He won the 2015 META Award for Most Innovative Sound for the play Rage and Beyond: Irawati’s Gandhari. He recently completed an ICCR tour of Netherlands and South Africa with the band Rajeev Raja Combine. He is currently working with Brand Musiq and RRC.

Niranjan Gokhale
Technical Direction
Niranjan Gokhale received his BA and MA in Theatre from University of Pune followed by an MFA in Lighting Design at the University of Georgia in Athens, USA. He has collaborated with renowned artistes including Aditi Mangaldas, Bijayini Satpathy, Malavika Sarukkai, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Nicole Seiler, Diya Naidu, Abhishek Majumdar, Roysten Abel and Mira Nair. He has been closely associated with Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts and TransMedia Technologies and the Cordelia Cruises run MV Empress. Niranjan advises new and refurbishing performance spaces on the in-house lighting rigs and provides free tech support to everyone in the lighting design community.

Leslie Andrews David
Production & House Management
Leslie was introduced to the magical realm of theatre when he was 14 years old. Over the decades, he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge as a theatre technician, working in lighting, sound, music, set design, and various other aspects of production. As part of Invisible Lighting, he has been a part of the International Theatre Festival of Kerala’s technical team for a number of years. Known for his creative ideas and meticulous attention to detail, he has worn many hats from design to execution. His passion lies in experimental and independent theatre.