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Avolites at the Not So Secret Policeman’s Ball
Lighting designer Atul Sonpal specified an Avolites Diamond 4 Elite console for control at a massive event in the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai, India, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Mumbai Police.
Appearing onstage was a glittering array of over 20 Bollywood superstars including Salman Khan, John Abraham (recently voted the ‘Most Desirable Man in India’), Sarf Ali Khan, Paryanka Chopaq and Shilpa Shetty. In attendance were the chief commissioner of Mumbai Police A. N. Roy and assorted Mumbai Police top brass, various dignitaries and VIPs plus 15,000 members of the public, who came to see the stars performing.
Sonpal, one of India’s premier LDs, works regularly with all the Bollywood glitterati, designing spectacular shows for their awards ceremonies and other shows, so he was a natural choice as LD for the Police Welfare Show. He worked closely with set designer Varsha and to create a highly visual backdrop for show producers Cinerug Entertainment.
The show was also recorded for broadcast on India’s national Star TV channel, so Sonpal was lighting for camera as well as for the live audience.
Sonpal always uses an Avolites D4 on his large shows. “I knew I would have very little programming time,” he said. “And that’s one of the main reasons I chose the D4 for this one – because I could work really quickly and efficiently on it. It helped me utilize fully the one full night – and only about three hours of optimum darkness – I had to programme for over 20 guest appearances, plus looks for all the other speakers and elements of the show.”
He specifically likes the D4’s palettes and colour pickers – which have been developed to make this aspect of building a show straightforward and very fast for operators, programmers and users.
The lighting get-in commenced on Friday for a Sunday show, with all equipment supplied by Mumbai-based Jagmag Electric, plus a crew of seven.
The lighting rig featured a 120ft span front truss (suspended off two giant cranes) containing 60 PAR cans plus four Clay Paky Alpha Washes and four CP Alpha Spots. On two side-stage scaffolding pods were another 120 PAR cans. A third scaffolding structure at the back of the stage featured 16 SGM ColorLab 250s and 12 Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs, with another six Robe CS 1200s upstage on the deck. All these fixtures were run through the D4, and all the moving lights had data run via a radio DMX system.
The steps of the stage set were illuminated by over 700 40W light bulbs, which were also run through the console, and there were also a series of DF50 hazers dotted around the stage, also controlled from the D4.
“It’s a great console.” continues Sonpal “I can do everything I need with it – it allows me to be very creative very quickly.”
He adds that Avolites desks generally – he is also a regular Pearl 2004 user and his company Jagmag owns several different Avo consoles – also stand up well to the tough climatic conditions of outdoor shows in India at this time of year, include penetrating heat and high humidity.
Sound for the Mumbai Police welfare Show was supplied by Sound.com and pyro by Morani Fireworks.
24th November 2006
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