In 2006, Payal & Hitesh staged their first original production, A Solution Sold, and thus started Aria Productions. The 15-minute-long musical, written by Payal and Ashwani, and composed by Hitesh and Ashwani was very well received, inspiring the duo to attempt a much larger production the following year, Mnjini.

Mnjini was a dream-come-true for both Hitesh and Payal.

With a cast of 40 absolutely naughty and brilliant kids, Payal, who scripted and directed the play, found the task exhilarating yet most trying. The children’s little poems were turned into songs which featured in the musical.

For Hitesh, to understand the right emotion and provide appropriate music was challenging, exciting and satisfying. He has experimented with a lot of music styles- R&B, funk, hip-hop, blues, rock, country, salsa- it’s all there.

In 2008, Aria staged Mr. Mean Turns A New Leaf, a democratic play as Payal calls it since every stage was developed by the children themselves. The whole script is in verse, written by the students of Speech and Drama, edited by Payal, and the students also helped with the stageplay and props. The finale song was composed by Hitesh and Mr. Johnny provided live background score.