Art & Culture   
Bombay Dreams on Broadway– 2

The show has just opened on Broadway and has been received fairly well. The newspaper reviews in New York that can make or break a show, I am told, are decent and encouraging. Having seen many Hindi movies, I have mixed feelings about it but one who is uninitiated (like the majority of American audiences) the experienced could be charming. Perhaps, I expected to see a truly great Hindi movie (an oxymoron?) on stage but the colors, costumes and the settings as well as the songs made up for any faults. Though the first scene is reminiscent of a high school play with all the explanations about Bombay film industry, the show does get warmer and interesting as it progresses. The combination of A. R. Rahman (music) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (producer) strikes a note that is interesting.

The singers do a decent job, though the rendition is sub par when compared to other Broadway hits (English songs) or the Hindi industry (Hindi renditions). Akaash (Manu Narayan) and Priya (Anisha Nagarajan) both have well trained voices. The Hijira Sweetie (Sriram Ganesan) has a feminine voice that suits the part. The grandmother (Madhur Jaffrey) does a good job and draws sympathy from the crowd, when her grandson forgets his roots and ignores the slums from where he originated, once he becomes rich and famous. Rani (Ayesha Dharker) as a stereotypical Bollywood star of yesteryears - when they appeared Rubenesque and voluptuous - is entertaining.

The wedding scene is colorful and the costumes are gorgeous. The fountain with wet sari scene and a boisterous song, “Shakalaka Baby”, is very well created on stage and draws gasps from the audience. The changing of scenery and the ease of moving from one scene to another is as good as any Broadway production.

The Hijiras do look grotesque in saris and their dance actions are also very manly. I suppose this is realistic in Bombay, where the Hijira community has carved a unique place in society. My criticism is that the rest of the ensemble could have been better Indian dancers (I spotted a few non-Indians in the group in an attempt to pass off as Indians). Pretty Indian group dancers with more Indian dance steps would have thrilled the audience more. There were love songs in English, where the male and female leads lament about their feelings towards each other. But what is strikingly missing is a scene where the hero is chasing the heroine around in parks or around a tree – the trademark of Indian movies! The actors do kiss but with an explanation that this is totally out of the norm in Bollywood.

– Continued

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