''Jag Mandir'', sometimes known by its subtitle, ''The Eccentric Private Theatre of the Maharaja of Udaipur'' (german: Das excentrische Privattheater des Maharadscha von Udaipur), is a 1991

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed for television by

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

. The bulk of the film consists of footage of an elaborate theatrical performance for the

Maharaj Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Arvind Singh Mewar Arvind Singh Mewar (born 13 December 1944) is an Indian businessman, former royal and chairman of HRH Group of Hotels. Arvind and his brother Mahendra both claim to be the 76th custodian of the House of Mewar. The Maharanas of Udaipur are custo ...

at the

City Palace City Palace may refer to: * City Palace, Berlin, Germany * City Palace, Brunswick, Germany * City Palace, Potsdam, Germany * Wiesbaden City Palace, Germany * Schloss Weimar, Germany * City Palace, Jaipur, India * City Palace, Udaipur, India * Myso ...

Udaipur, Rajasthan Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...

staged by

André Heller Franz André Heller (; born 22 March 1947 as Francis Charles Georges Jean André Heller-Hueart) is an Austrian artist, author, poet, singer, songwriter and actor. Biography Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manufac ...

Production

The film was made at Heller's request. Heller explains in the film that he sent several colleagues throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to find performers for the show, including dancers, musicians,

contortionist Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other liv ...

s, and magicians. About 10,000 performers were located, and of these about 2,000 were chosen to appear in the show, which lasted several hours on a single day. Herzog's footage was filmed at the actual show, with some segments filmed in the rehearsals in the previous days. Herzog's narration explains that the event was requested of the Maharana by a local wise man who saw the sinking of the city's palaces into the Pichola Lake as a sign that the local culture was deteriorating, and that the Maharana needed to stage the performance to reinvigorate interest in the various cultures represented. This story was invented by Herzog for the film, to "put it all into some context." The city's palaces are not actually sinking into the lake.

References

External links

* 1991 films 1991 television films German television films Films set in Rajasthan Documentary films about India 1991 documentary films German-language television shows {{Germany-tv-film-stub