"Bombay Dreams" Makes Dream Debut on Broadway

[Guest guest]

New York, April 2: In case residents of the Bengal capital are

unaware of this major piece of breaking news, Miss Calcutta has won

the Miss India beauty pageant.

 

The judges were going to be bribed in order to ensure she emerged

the winner, but in the end the brown envelopes stuffed with cash did

not have to be distributed. Miss Calcutta won, we are told, on her

own merits.

 

This happy development occurs in the rewritten version of Bombay

Dreams, which has opened for previews in New York's Broadway.

 

Ayesha Dharker's claim that the Broadway version of "Bombay Dreams"

is "a million times better than the show in London" does not appear

to be far from the truth, metaphorically speaking.

 

Dharker, who comes from Mumbai, is the only one from the London cast

to have been taken on in New York, and justifies her inclusion by

another even more dazzling performance. As she is lowered on stage

from a crescent moon, she has star written all over her voluptuous

curves.

 

"Hollywood is sniffing round her," revealed a source.

 

Compared with the production in London, the show in Broadway is

altogether slicker, faster-moving and boasts the best production

values, glamourous costumes and sets that dollars can buy. "It is

much, much better than the London show," volunteered an Asian youth

from London who had seen Bombay Dreams at both the Apollo Theatre in

Victoria and now at the Broadway Theatre in New York.

 

If last night's audience reaction is any guide, this musical is

likely to prove a huge hit. Bombay Dreams seems big enough for the

Big Apple.

 

And on the back of Bombay Dreams, the whole "Indian Shining"

philosophy can be aggressively promoted in America.

 

Already, the American media is using Bombay Dreams as a peg to look

at the rise and rise of Indians in America. Of course, New York's

all important theatre critics will not deliver their judgment for

another fortnight, giving the producers time to iron out any last

problems. "Broadway hasn't had anything like this," co-writer,

Thomas Meehan, told The Telegraph at the conclusion of last night's

very successful performance. Meehan was given the task of taking

Meera Syal's script for the London show and making it more

accessible for an American audience.

 

Compared with London, where 90 per cent of the audience was Indian

when Bombay Dreams opened in June 2002, barely 30 per cent of the

crowd was of Indian origin at the Broadway Theatre last night. The

budget for the show is said to be $14 million but after only three

performances, the advance takings reportedly stand at $4 million.

 

Last night's performance — there was not a single seat left unsold

at the 1,800-capacity theatre — was attended by the show's producer

from London, (Lord) Andrew Lloyd Webber, plus the Oscar-winning

lyricist Don Black, as well as the writers Syal and Meehan. Meehan

remarked that he had seen the show in London. "I found parts

confusing," he admitted.

 

This could be because American audiences are largely unfamiliar with

any culture other than their own. This is why aspects of Indian

culture or way of life, which the British would not require to be

explained, need to be spelt out for Americans.

 

That aside, the story of Bombay Dreams — poor kid born on the wrong

side of the tracks but aspires to be a movie star — is one with

which Americans, given the history of Hollywood, will identify much

more easily.

 

Also, given the stronger position of the gay movement in the US, the

role of "Sweetie", the kind-hearted hijra from the slums, is bound

to evoke instinctive sympathy in America. The expression, "hijra",

is introduced in a song with the preamble, "women who used to be

men".

 

What helps Bombay Dreams to work in Broadway is a string of clever

one-liners in the new script. The musical is still the romantic

story of poor boy-rich girl, Akaash and Priya, but for New York, the

boy from the slums has an added disadvantage — he is

an "untouchable".

 

But screen goddess Rani (Ayesha Dharker), with whom he makes his

debut blockbuster, Diamond in the Rough, finds him eminently

touchable. He loses his heart, though, to the film director's

daughter, Priya (Anisha Nagarajan). Like the rest of the cast, she

is an Indian American.

 

There is an energy and vitality about Bombay Dreams which is certain

to revitalise Broadway. Manu Narayan, (Akaash), is blessed with a

beautiful singing voice and a style which recalls the young John

Travolta. He is probably the find of the musical.

 

The references at many points are as much Hollywood as Bollywood. At

one point, Akaash tears off his fancy clothes, remembers his roots

and returns to help residents of his old slums.

 

Here, the iconic images recalled are the angry young men from

Hollywood, for example, James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. To be

sure, Bollywood is parodied, but invariably with affection. The

audience laughs at the disclosure: "Every picture shot in Bollywood

has a wet sari scene." There is one.

 

Another laugh follows a comment on the slowness of the Indian legal

system: "Indian courts are like Indian men — they take forever."

Again and again, what comes across is just how close are the worlds

of Bollywood and Hollywood, and how the Indian film awards are

just "Oscars with chutney".

 

London was colourful enough, but here in Broadway, where money was

no object, American audiences will find the sets and Indian

costumes, complete with intricate gold embroidery on rich, red

fabric, lavish beyond dreams. The music is by A.R. Rahman, and

choreography by Farah Khan and Anthony Van Laast.

 

Despite the exotic setting, Bombay Dreams, with a few changes here

and there, could easily be called LA Dreams. "Some stories, such as

that of Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and rich girl-poor boy have

eternal appeal," commented Meehan.

 

 

Source: The Telegraph, Calcutta; "Bombay" Makes Dream Debut on

Broadway, by AMIT ROY

URL:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040403/asp/atleisure/story_3081463.asp