Being the daughter of the renowned advertising guru and theatre personality Alyque Padamsee and well-known theatre actress Pearl Padamsee; it was only natural for her to follow in her parent's footsteps even though her dad was keen on she pursuing an MBA degree! Meet Raell Padamsee who spills the beans on theatre, her contribution to the less privileged, life and much more...

Early years that she recalls...
Born to a half Jewish, half Punjabi and a baptised Christian mother and an agnostic father, she was brought up in Bombay. She recalls the woman who was her earliest influence - her nanny Rosy. Raell reminiscences, "She would take me to the church everyday. My school had a church attached to it, so I was a regular and I grew up as a Catholic. The next strong influence was her father Alyque Padamsee who was hell bent on she pursuing MBA and was dead against her doing theatre. But Lady luck apparently had other plans...

Grounding began at home...
She recalls fondly, "Our home was designed as a theatre and we had rehearsals and workshops. In fact we never understood the concept of watching TV in the evenings, as there was never a need for the same. Our home was one vibrant melting pot of creative souls airing their myriad talents."

Learning to fly
Having started a company by the name of Magnum Sales Corporation, which dealt in office equipment, Raell soon started a production compnay, on her mother's request to produce plays. The company, by and by, got incorporated as Ace Productions Pvt Ltd. (ACE stands for The Academy For Creative Expression). "Having produced plays on a regular basis, we moved on to children's theatre and children's workshops," she says. On several parents' requests of including child artists in children plays instead of using adults was born 'The Little Actors Club', which spread out to 16 centres in Mumbai offering 6 courses. "We believe in holistic development of the child and work value building; we teach them to be aware of their environment, their rights, how to think creatively and out of the box. Most importantly we help them to build their personality through the medium of theatre" she expresses with pride.

She adds further softly, "The reason I decided to expand was when I saw a 4-year-old child traveling for 2 hours every day to come to a one hour class of mine and that too after attending school! I realised that I needed to make this possible for kids all over, which is why wherever we can, we insist on having open centres, so kids all over can benefit.

Women behind her...
"First my late mother Pearl Padamsee and then Dr. Mithu Chibb, Founder of The Spastic Society Of India who revolutionised the way we look at challenged children. She founded this organisation over 25 years ago. Her child was mentally challenged child and there was no school that would take her in, and that is why and how the organisation was born!" she exclaims strongly.

On a mission!
Raell has started a trust called Create - Childrens Research in Education and the Arts, Theatre Endowment in memory of her late mother Pearl Padamsee. She believes in adding creativity to their curriculum, integrating children from challenged and less privileged backgrounds with children from mainstream schools and giving them a creative platform to come together and work together.

Today, she's a hi-flier...
Raell is currently producing Macbeth which is an international production based on Tantric Metaphysical elements and would be
directed by her father Alyque Padamsee. The costume designing would be done by ace designer Tarun Tahiliani and would have Louis Banks doing the original sound track.

Words of wisdom
The last word by Raell, "Children are truly the future and we have to invest all our energies into them. We have messed up this world in so many ways, I am sure the next generation has a better chance if they are brought up by instilling in them the right attitude."

This woman of substance signs off by saluting women out there who manage to get up in the morning, handle their daily chores like cooking, cleaning, looking after their children and sending them to school, braving the local transport system, going to work and returning back home to get back to their domestic schedules. Everything is their responsibility - home, family, kids, husbands. in-laws. They do this day in and day out...relentlessly with no respite.