Suchitra with film-maker husband Shekhar Kapur

Flowers on the carpet and cracks on the ceiling. The inspiration for singer-actress Suchitra Krishnamurthy?s debut musical, Candlelight, to be directed on stage by theatre stalwart Mahesh Dattani.

?I wrote the play when I was in London and it was one of those phases when I felt like putting my thoughts on paper. I have been writing a lot of songs and poems for a long time now. But this one wasn?t planned or anything. It just happened. Once back in Mumbai I decided to do something about it and things got rolling,? Suchitra tells Metro.

Producer Ashwin Gidwani got interested in the project and brought Suchitra and Dattani together. ?I just loved the script,? recalls Dattani. ?I have written and directed so many plays but I have never directed a musical. After doing Morning Raga, where music played such a huge role, I really wanted to direct a musical on stage. So Suchitra and I sat down with the script and even worked together on it for a while. I am based in Bangalore and Suchitra in Mumbai, so the process is taking some time. But Candlelight will be a Mumbai-based production all right.?

For Suchitra, working with Dattani was like a dream come true. ?I?m very excited that I?ll get to work with someone like Mahesh Dattani. I have tremendous regard for him and his body of work.?

But why couldn?t she direct something so close to her heart? ?Who wants to do so much hard work?? laughs film-maker Shekhar Kapur?s better half. ?I don?t think I am cut out to be a director. I don?t see myself managing such a huge cast.?

Revolving around a singer, the musical is largely set in the music industry. ?It is about this woman?s journey, about how she comes to terms with herself,? says Suchitra.

?It?s also about the men in her life and how finally she gets her own voice by becoming a Bollywood-cum-pop singer in London. The story in fact see-saws between Mumbai and London.?

Suchitra Krishnamurthy and Mahesh Dattani

While the script is almost finalised, the cast is yet to be decided on. ?Suchitra, of course, will play the main female protagonist,? says Dattani.

?By the end of this month, we?ll conduct the workshops and the auditions. We are looking for actors who can sing. It will be good if we discover some fresh talent or we?ll fall back on the known ones.?

Another major addition to the team will be the music director, who will string together the musical and punctuate the pauses. ?We have a couple of people in mind but haven?t yet decided on someone,? says Suchitra.

?Candlelight is not all music. It is not an opera. It has dialogues of course but a major part of the play is conveyed through music. While it is a drama at the outset, it does have a lot of comedy thrown in as well.?

A large part of Candlelight is also about the sad scenario that the Indian music industry finds itself in. ?The music scene is really in a bad state. It has become an excuse for pornography. I have written so many songs and even got music directors to set them to tune, but I wouldn?t like to bring out an album considering the condition of the music industry. While the musical is not entirely about this, a little bit of it is a reflection of the state of affairs. Even my main protagonist has trouble in expressing herself artistically. But that?s only a part of her long journey,? adds Suchitra.

Once the musical is ready to be staged ? it should take at least six months to do so ? Candlelight will travel long and fast.

?While we?ll definitely stage it in Mumbai and London, we also have plans to bring it to Delhi, Bangalore and Calcutta,? says Dattani.

?We also have open invitations from the Middle East,? Suchitra chips in. ?But we are definitely coming to Calcutta with Candlelight. You have such a lovely understanding audience there.?