Art & Culture   
Bombay Dreams on Broadway– 3

All in all Bombay Dreams is entertaining. I would not classify it as a masterpiece, portraying Indian culture at its best, to the American audiences. However, to a curious audience who have become acutely aware of India recently– because of Information Technology and outsourcing – Bombay Dreams is a good introduction of another aspect of Indian culture, namely the pop movie culture with a worldwide following. After all, millions of people all over the world flock to see Bollywood movies, which makes more than 900 movies a year. But hardly any even make an appearance in the American horizon.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was said to have been fascinated with Rahman’s musical talents and wanted to bring it to the stage. The music in the show is vibrating as well as loud, and scintillating and emotional - typically Rahman style, with bold beats of drums and dramatic crescendos. Only two Hindi songs are recognizable from old tunes. The show has been running in London for almost two years to packed houses. It was well received in London, where Indian culture has deeply infiltrated British life. The story and the music for the American audiences have been considerably altered, with addition of two new songs and simplification of the story line. So even after seeing the Broadway version, it would be worth your while to see it again in London.

Manu Narayan, who plays Akaash, is a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburg. Anisha Nagarajan left NYU as a sophomore to portray Priya. Both seem to have a good chemistry between them. Manu is a good dancer and Priya has a grace of an Indian classical dancer in her steps. I only wish she had more chances to show this in the play. You can see them below in practice. Madhur Jaffrey is a well known actress with movie and theater experience. Ayesha Dharker, who plays the buxom Rani has both stage and Hollywood experience. She also played in Bombay Dreams in London.      

– Neria Harish Hebbar, MD
May 1, 2004

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