Dec 6, 1999

Rael Padamsee, 37
Director

A NICHE LADY
There's no question of being in someone else's shadow. Rael Padamsee -- first child of adman-director Alyque and actress-director Pearl -- owns a niche of her own. Today she's the undisputed queen of Lilliputian drama. Alladin and his Magic Lamp, Alibaba and the Forty Thieves and Babloo the Bear. Sold out. The kids love it, and Rael revels in it.

The stars are mainly drawn from her immensely popular Little Actors Club, which trains pre-teens for professional acting. "My idea is to make them creative individuals with the potential to change society," she says.

An aside. For a reality check, she occasionally goes from Grimm to grim without missing a curtain call. Her Betrayal dealt with infidelity, Games People Play assessed human relationships, Acts of Faith looked at terrorism while Extremities examined sexual abuse. "I also do plays that make people think," she says. It's called the Big Actors Club.

-Farah Baria

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