Giant Puppets for Large-Scale Events and Causes
We build life-sized puppets that dominate the stage and capture attention at public events. From initial concept to live performance, we bring massive, interactive characters to life.
Posing with the 12-foot Ravan puppet my team and I created for the Paani Foundation's Farmer Cup. This puppet, with its ten heads representing ten farming issues, was the centerpiece of a powerful dance drama.
A quick behind-the-scenes look at the giant puppets my father and I designed for the Paani Foundation's Farmer Cup 2023. This video shows the scale of the Ravan puppet before it made its grand appearance on stage.
Standing proudly with the giant Bali Raja puppet, which symbolizes the victory of the farmer's movement. Creating these massive characters for Aamir Khan's Paani Foundation was a fulfilling project that blended art with a powerful social message.
Another angle of the Bali Raja puppet, designed to be operated by multiple performers. The entire piece was crafted by hand in our studio, from the internal structure to the final paint and costume details.
A full view of the Bali Raja puppet on stage with the performers. It takes a team to bring a character of this size to life, and I'm incredibly proud of the dancers who operated it so skillfully.
Here I am with my team and the ten-headed Ravan puppet. Each head was individually crafted and mounted to represent a different challenge faced by farmers, making it a complex and meaningful design.
A closer look at the giant Ravan puppet created for the Paani Foundation. The project took two months to complete in our Mumbai studio, involving detailed sculpting, fabrication, and mechanical work.
Posing with the full Ravan puppet and my team of puppeteers. Seeing our creation become part of a live performance in front of 7,000 people at Balewadi stadium was an unforgettable experience.
The scale of the Ravan puppet is truly visible here. We designed it to be visually imposing to effectively symbolize the enormous challenges it represented in the show's narrative.
My wife Rujuta and I with one of the giant puppets. It's always a team effort, and having my family involved in these large-scale projects makes the work even more special.
About Giant Puppets for Events & Causes
Building these giant puppets is a serious engineering task that goes beyond simple design. Because these figures can stand 12 feet tall and require specialized rigging, the most critical step is discussing your venue height and stage logistics before we start sketching. I need to know how the space is configured so we can ensure the puppet is both stable and fully operational during your event.
When we build puppets on this scale, we aren't just creating a prop. We are building a performer that has to hold up under the pressure of a live event, whether it is a stadium gathering or a televised dance drama. My team and I handle everything in our Mumbai studio, using a mix of traditional sculpting and modern structural engineering to make sure the puppet can move naturally.
The Process
Every large-scale project starts with a conversation. We map out the character's purpose, the intended interaction, and the constraints of your performance space. For our work with the Paani Foundation, this meant designing a 12-foot Ravan that had to represent specific social issues. We didn't just build a statue; we engineered a figure capable of being operated by performers while remaining visually impactful for 7,000 people at Balewadi Stadium.
Technical Realities
- Studio Craft: We create the frame and skin locally, ensuring the material is lightweight but durable enough for rapid movement.
- Operational Rigging: These puppets are rarely solo acts. We work with your choreography team or dancers to ensure the control rods and internal mechanisms are intuitive for the operators.
- Planning: Because of the custom fabrication involved in giant puppet design, these projects require a lead time of at least two months. This gives us the space to sketch, prototype, and refine the mechanics.
We don't just deliver a puppet and walk away. We ensure the team handling the performance knows exactly how to work with the structure, so the character feels like it is truly alive on stage.
Satyajit Padhye
Puppetry is my family's legacy, and scaling it to 12 feet for stadium stages is where I truly have fun. My father and I run the studio together, mixing old-school techniques with modern mechanics to make sure these puppets actually perform, not just sit there. I love working on projects that have a clear message, just like our work for the Paani Foundation.
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