NEW DELHI– (March 22, 2011) – Christie®, a global leader in visual display solutions for business, entertainment and industry, is pleased to announce that three Christie Roadster S+20K projectors have been installed at the Old Fort in New Delhi for a nightly sound and light show.
Inaugurated by M Hamid Ansari, India’s Vice President, and commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism and India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), the ‘Ishq-e-Dilli’ (Love of Delhi) show outlining the history of Delhi in the last millennium, has captured the attention of audiences with colorful visuals since its opening.
“The show at the Old Fort has been very well received. On weekends, we have full occupancy every evening. India has 14 sound and light shows and this is one of the best shows that I have witnessed anywhere. Technologically, it is very well executed and the digital mapping technology is superb considering the projection was done on the surface of a 500-year-old monument,” said Dr Lalit K. Panwar, chairman and managing director, ITDC.
Having mobilized all the resources needed for the show’s content and having appointed Ross Ashton as the project’s technical designer and installation consultant, Himanshu Sabharwal was excited when he learned he would produce the entire show. “We did a lot of research for the content, and Professor Najaf Haider from Jawaharlal Nehru University helped with instances from history. Many other scenes from the show have been drawn from the works of William Dalrymple, BB Lal and historical literature,” revealed Sabharwal.
The vivacious 3D animations and graphics accompany poignant narrations by Sabharwal and, at intervals, renditions of Chhap Tilak, sung by Rekha Bharrdwaj as well as a Sufi song by Kailash Kher. “We use 3D effects for certain scenes like when we show Emperor Humayan falling from the stairs or an illusion of the palace collapsing,” said Sabharwal.
The one-hour show depicts the spirit of Delhi through a lively narration of its 10 ancient cities, beginning with the establishment of the first city of Quila Rai Pithora and culminating in modern-day New Delhi with its NCR (National Capital Region) and sophisticated network of highways and roads including the recently constructed Metro Rail.
‘Ishq-e-Dilli’ is the first permanent son et lumière in India and Christie’s first outdoor installation project here. Using three Christie Roadster S+20K projectors placed at a height of 1.8 meters and nearly 200 meters away from the Old Fort’s frontage, the projectors were capable of creating an image 50 meters wide by 20 meters tall on the frontage. Since the projection is displays on a jagged surface, with aged and different color hues, edge blending and calibration are critical to the quality, color accuracy and richness of the projection.
“We had to manage the colors very carefully, for instance, by increasing the red or green hues. Basic calibration between the projectors and the surface of the Old Fort was crucial and this calibration process alone took us three full days,” said Gopi Ram Malik, managing director, AV Science & Technologies Pvt Ltd, Christie’s partner in New Delhi who carried out the installation at the Old Fort.
Virendar Wadhwa, master integrator from Modern Stage Services noted, “With its unmatched brightness and color reproduction, Christie Roadster S+20K projectors were just right for this unique projection.”
Lin Yu, vice president Christie, Asia Pacific, remarked, “Christie is a leading player in the area of visual projection across many markets throughout Asia Pacific. Many of our projections were realized on so-called modern terms, for example, the projections at the Beijing Summer Games in 2008 and the recently concluded world exposition in Shanghai. This project at the Old Fort in New Delhi is truly representative of a son et lumière given that it encapsulates a most modern art of projection onto a historical façade.”
