Kingdom of Dreams was an entertainment complex located in the Indian city of

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

. Owned by the Great Indian Nautanki Company (GINC), a joint venture between Apra Group and Wizcraft, and opened in 2010, the facility consisted of two

auditoriums An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

, the 864-seat Nautanki Mahal, the 350-seat Showshaa Theatre, and an indoor cultural "

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

" featuring dining, crafts, and entertainment. The complex was closed in July 2022 by the

Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), formerly Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), is the urban planning agency of the state of Haryana in India except Gurugram and Faridabad which has Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority an ...

(HVSP), in a dispute over unpaid lease payments for the complex's property.

History

The complex was inaugurated on 29 January 2010, by Chief Minister of Haryana

Bhupinder Singh Hooda Bhupinder Singh Hooda (born 15 September 1947) is an Indian National Congress politician, who has served as the Chief Minister of Haryana from 2005 to 2014. He was the Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2024 ...

, with appearances by

Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 1945) is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and poet. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007, two of India's highest civili ...

, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa. It is a project of The Great Indian Nautanki Company, a joint venture between events firm Wizcraft International Entertainment and real estate developer Apra Group. The companies described Kingdom of Dreams as being a complex "where ethnic Indian culture meets modern entertainment", and compared it to New York City's Broadway. The Culture Gully portion of the complex opened on 30 July 2010. On 28 August 2010, the official song of the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

, " Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto", was presented during a promotional event at the complex. Kingdom of Dreams officially opened to the public on 18 September 2010. On 19 September 2010, actor

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

was announced at the complex's "global ambassador". After its successful opening, GINC disclosed plans to potentially open a second, larger Kingdom of Dreams complex in Mumbai, and similar complexes internationally in China, Dubai, Singapore, South Africa, as well as the United States (with a particular focus on

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and a potential partnership with real estate developer

Steve Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn ( Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He was known for his involvement in the luxury casino and hotel industry, prior to being forced to step down in 2018. Early in his care ...

). In the mid-2010s, the complex began to face financial difficulties. In 2014,

(HSVP, formerly Haryana Urban Development Authority) opened an investigation into Kingdom of Dreams' finances after a ₹39.2 million cheque for a lease payment bounced. GINC and HSVP engaged in a legal dispute over the non-payment. In 2016, actor Gaurav Gera—who played in its show ''Jhumroo—''accused its owners of not having paid him dues for at least two and a half years, and launched a social media campaign to call out the show's producer Gagan Sharma. By then, its owners had owed ₹420 million in unpaid lease payments. In October 2018, HSVP appointed Grant Thorton as a consultant to seek a new operator for the facility. The complex was further impacted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In July 2022, HSVP terminated GINC's lease, and subsequently locked the property. Later that month, GINC obtained a

stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tr ...

on the termination. On 26 July 2023, a fire broke out in the facility's basement; there were no injuries.

Facilities

Nautanki Mahal is Kingdom of Dreams' main theatre hall; the 864-seat, palace-themed auditorium opened with its first original production, the "

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

" '' Zangoora.'' In April 2012, the theatre opened a second production, ''Jhumroo'', based on the life of

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

. The Showshaa Theatre is a 350-seat domed amphitheater on the complex; its programming included productions of traditional folk performances such as

Ramlila Ramlila or Ramleela (; literally 'Rama's lila or play') is any dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' or secondary literature based on it such as the '' Ramcharitmanas''. It particular ...

, as well as ''The Great Indian Talent Circus'' and the

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

-themed musical ''The Big Fat Indian Wedding Show''. Culture Gully is a indoor "

" designed to showcase

Indian culture Indian culture is the heritage of social norms and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse nation of India, pertaining to the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and the Republic of India post-1947. ...

, including artwork reflecting each state of India, restaurants featuring chefs from across the country, artisan and craft stores, a dry massage parlor, and street performers. Its entryway features a sculpture of -tall lotus petals, adorned with mirrors. A Bollywood-themed bar and restaurant known as the IIFA Buzz Lounge is also featured in the area, which included memorabilia related to Bollywood films (including posters, props and costumes, and an IIFA trophy).

References

{{Reflist, 33em

External links

Kingdom Of Dreams, Official website

Official blog
Buildings and structures in Gurgaon Entertainment venues in India Tourist attractions in Haryana Theatres completed in 2010