Art at the Mumbai Metro

Mumbai Metro Meri Jaan!

On mentioning the Mumbai Metro, every Mumbaikar's heart swells with pride. Finally, our city too can boast of an avant-garde transport system that ferries millions of commuters each day, while still ensuring that the journey stays extremely pleasant for each one. Strategically constructed to connect the eastern parts of the city to the western, this rapid transit line saves at least 60 minutes of travel time! The current Versova – Andheri – Ghatkopar corridor boasts of 12 stations and an estimated daily ridership of 1.5 million.

And then there were more!

Pleased with our performances, in June 2015, the Mumbai Metro granted us permission to perform at four more Metro Stations – Western Express Highway, Airport Road, D.N. Nagar and Marol Naka. They also gave us a go ahead on our request to increase performance hours. Our artists now perform from 9-11 am in the morning and from 5-8 pm in the evening.

A Medley of Genres and Art Forms

At NSPA, we believe in exploring and supporting various art forms and genres. That’s one of the reasons why we don’t promote Bollywood music, because it’s so easily available. Whereas a rustic folk song from Uttar Pradesh or Agra, now these we hardly get to listen to. So, even at the Metro, we encourage artists to perform various genres, from folk to Sufi to fusion to jazz and blues to covers and original compositions.

Apart from music, we also put up 15-20 minute dramas. These are mostly street plays that communicate a positive social message or even mime acts that urge people to do away with negative habits and embrace positive ones.

Mumbai Metro collaborates with NSPA to makes festivals fun!

The Mumbai Metro is constantly striving to make commuting not just a stress-free experience, but also an enjoyable one. They never miss an opportunity to try something fun and enjoyable at their stations. Hence, they organize festivities to celebrate occasions and special events. NSPA has collaborated with the Mumbai Metro on several occasions to introduce an 'artsy' touch to these celebrations.

Independence Day Celebrations at the Mumbai Metro

The Mumbai Metro celebrated our country's 69th Independence Day with much pomp and splendor. Patriotic songs were played, stalls selling ethnic products were set up, much was done to make the commuter feel special on this special day. NSPA put up live performances at Ghatkopar, Andheri and Versova stations to treat commuters to live music and theatre performances.

Perks of performing at the Mumbai Metro

Performing at the Mumbai Metro is an enriching experience for us. Every performance throws up a new learning and this helps us and our artists grow. Also, since Metro stations are always bustling with hurrying commuters, our artists have to really step up their game to get a person's attention and this pushes them to keep working on their performances.

Spreading Music and Smiles!

At the Metro, we actually get to see how art can spread joy in a person's life. On numerous occasions, we've seen harried commuters, weighed down by worries and responsibilities, light up with a smile after listening to our artists perform. Some of them make song requests while some hum and sing along. We get to see them unwind and have a good time and this makes us smile!

There’s more to Music than Bollywood songs!

At the Metro, our artists perform different genres of music. Whether it's Punjabi folk or Virodhi music, blues numbers or Sufi rock songs, we treat listeners to a range of genres. The artists also talk about music and its influences and this helps people learn about different genres of music as well as cultures.

So, how were we?

Since our artists interact with bystanders after every performance, they get healthy feedback regarding their performance. Very often, an audience member has gone up to an artist and told him what he liked about the performance and what he thinks the artist should work on. We also distribute feedback forms and encourage audience members to share their thoughts with us.

Where to from here?

The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor is only the first phase of the proposed rapid transit network system that is envisioned to stretch across the entire city, connecting not just the east to the west, but also the northern parts of the city to the southern parts. As new transport routes are added, we wish to take the NSPA to these routes as well, introducing art into every nook and corner of the city. We wish to make commuting a joyful experience, an activity individuals look forward to, because they know there is an interesting activity awaiting them somewhere along the way!