Watch Mahesh Raghvan Lead an Indian Classical Version of ‘Mamma Mia!’

After watching Mamma Mia!, the international musical based on songs from Swedish pop legends ABBA, composer-producer Mahesh Raghvan and violinist Nandini Shankar (Raghvan’s wife) decided to put together an Indian classical-informed fusion take on the title track “Mamma Mia.”

Raghvan – often a producer who gets into classical-informed fusion renditions using his iPad – and Shankar are joined by sitarist Mehtab Ali Niazi, flautist S. Akash and tabla artist Ishaan Ghosh on this short but soulful version of the ABBA hit from 1975, which spawned a musical that was a hit on London’s West End and New York’s Broadway.

Since November 29th, Mamma Mia! has set up at Mumbai’s Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), being staged until January 7th. Raghvan says he and his wife watched the musical for the first time at  to It was our first time watching Mamma Mia at the NMACC. “It was a show that we’ve always wanted to watch, and we were thrilled when we found out that it was coming to India,” he says. They found the musical to be “extremely fun,” with Raghvan particularly praising the world class production and the music. “The show kept us engaged till the very end and there was not a single dull moment,” he adds.  

The composer-producer considers ABBA’s music to be universal in terms of both, enjoying as a listener and interpreting as a musician. “We wanted to give the Mamma Mia! song a complete Indian classical twist. We’ve added some Indian variations and improvisations to the lines, and the whole process was a lot of fun,” he adds. Raghvan adds that he picked instruments like sitar, tabla and flute since they “represent the sound of India” for this version.

With the musical playing at NMACC and keeping ABBA’s tunes as alive as ever, Raghvan says there’s plenty more to cover from the band and musical’s catalog. Ask him if he’d have to pick any other song from the band’s catalog to cover and he says, “It would definitely be ‘Dancing Queen.’”

Get tickets for ‘Mamma Mia!’ the musical at the NMACC here.