06/28/2026
Agni Foundation for the Arts and Agni Katha Present
Raas Leela: An East Side Story,
A Large-Scale Bollywood Musical Featuring 130 Dancers, 9 Dance Pieces, and 12 Choreographers
Austin, Texas — Agni Foundation for the Arts and Agni Katha are proud to present Raas Leela: An East Side Story, coming to The Long Center for the Performing Arts on August 21 and 22, 2026, at 7:30 PM.
Bringing together a 150 member cast and crew, with 9 major dance pieces involving a collaboration of 12 choreographers, Raas Leela is one of Agni’s most ambitious theatrical productions to date. The show blends dance, theatre, music, movement, and cinematic storytelling to create a bold new stage experience rooted in South Asian culture while speaking to a universal story of love, conflict, identity, and belonging.
Set in the fictional city of Vrindapur, Raas Leela reimagines the emotional world of classic western love stories through a distinctly South Asian lens. Inspired by themes of forbidden love, family rivalry, and generational conflict, the production follows Ram and Leela, two young lovers caught between the powerful opposing Kothari and Rathod families.
What makes Raas Leela unique is its ability to take a familiar storytelling structure and transform it with South Asian flavor — through Bollywood spectacle, Indian theatricality, folk-inspired movement, contemporary dance, dramatic staging, vibrant costumes, and emotionally charged choreography.
At its heart, Raas Leela is not just a love story. It is a story about community, legacy, pride, and the choices that shape generations. The city of Vrindapur itself becomes a living, breathing character, brought to life by a massive ensemble of dancers who move between celebration, chaos, conflict, and memory.
The production features a diverse cast of actors and dancers from the Austin arts community, including performers portraying Ram, Leela, Manoj Rathod, Sumitra, Pramod Kothari, Vijay Rathod, Arjun, Meera, and the Sutradhar, a shifting witness who guides the audience through the rhythm and emotional landscape of the story.
Dance is the heartbeat of Raas Leela. Across 9 major dance pieces, audiences will experience a wide range of movement styles including Bollywood, contemporary, folk, classical influences, theatrical ensemble work, and modern fusion. With 12 choreographers contributing their artistic voices, each dance piece brings a different texture to the world of the show while remaining connected to the larger narrative.
“This production is about taking a story people may recognize and making it ours,” said Prakash Mohandas, Founder of the Agni ecosystem. “We are adapting the emotional power of a Western love story, but telling it with South Asian soul — through our music, our movement, our colors, our communities, and our dancers. With 130 performers on stage, this is not just a performance. It is a celebration of culture and collective storytelling.”
Raas Leela – An East Side Love Story is a Bollywood musical inspired by the timeless tale of star-crossed lovers.
