Bombay Dreams

Right, let’s get the important stuff out of the way. Priya or Rani? Hmmm. Tough question. Priya was the typical lead - smart, beautiful, sweet and fit fit FIT. On the other hand Rani (or at least her clone, see later) was slightly flabby (although I think that was a part of the story), but boy she could dance in a way that could make up for it. Oh, and they both outshone anyone else on the stage that night. Nope. Too hard – I would shakalaka with either of them.

Ok, now that particular question is out of the way I can get to the show itself. For those who do not already know Bombay Dreams is about Akaash (Raza Jaffrey) our typically youthful hero from the slum, yearning for what he tells us he was born to do – to become a Bollywood star, that is. Luckily for him, he meets the world famous director Madan (Dalip Tahil) in jail (where else?) who sees the "tingle" in Akaash and gives him the chance that he needs to achieve stardom. Of course, Madan has a beautiful daughter, Priya (Preeya Kalidas), who has an equal yearning to follow her father’s footsteps and become a world famous director. She, in turn, is engaged to be married to Vikram (Ramon Tikaram), the lawyer that says he wants to save the slum (that Akaash happens to come from) from being demolished to make way for a multiplex. This has all been brought about by JK (Raad Rawi), boo hiss etc, who by wild coincidence is the source of everything bad in Bombay including, in an amazing fit of irony, the coercion of directors into giving him their distribution rights. but hey, I am sure you saw that coming. Throw in a eunuch best friend (Sweetie - Raj Ghatak), a temptress (Rani - Sophiya Haque, played by her understudy last night) and a light hearted distraction in the form of a very Smita Smittenesque Kitty the gossip columnist (Shelly King), and you end up with a story that is a largely predictable (if you were not able to read between my lines), but all the same enjoyable, implementation of the love, conflict and drama that is standard Bollywood flare. The difference here, however, is that it is standard Bollywood flare on the stage.

Technically, the show is quite a mixed bag. Lighting was a bit dubious (I caught a few stray shadows more than once), while the sets were very effective in their simplicity. Having said that they did have something I have never seen on the stage before – an ever changing pool/fountain water piece largely put in, I assume, for the wet dancing scene. This made up for the inadequacies of the direct lighting by causing elaborate reflections to be cast on the set. I was particularly impressed by the appropriateness of its use as it would have been far too easy to over or even misuse it. I would like to say that this resistance to overuse visual gimmicks was a trend throughout, but I do feel that they may have misjudged the level of use of certain other mechanical devices. Costume was impressive, and it is commendable that the production team chose to remain authentic rather than take the easy route and caricature Indian/Western dress (and as an aside I was very impressed by the ability of some of the ensemble to dance in high heels).

Moving on to the script, I must admit I do not think Meera Syal spent much time in thinking up the story, cheesy lines or the clichéd gags. Having said that, it is arguable whether she had to or not – in the course of the show nobody ever pretends that this is anything more in this respect than what Bollywood usually is. What we end up with is a largely adequate plot, and for those of us that have seen more than one Indian movie more of a distraction than anything else.

Choreography was excellent. It can't have been easy for this particular aspect to have been translated from screen to stage without losing that Bollywood magic, but it was done and done well. The semi-original score was also very good and of standard theatrical fare albeit with a Bollywood twist - and even though you would expect the musical bites and covers from the classical Bollywood scores, it was still quite surprising how effective this fusion turned out to be. Lyrically the songs were ok - if there was ever an English song version of a Bollywood flick, I would expect the lyrics to be as cheesy and clichéd as this was. Cheesy and clichéd in a good way, mind.

Again, I am in two minds about the performance last night. Due to the physical nature of the show many of the songs were not sung live, which is only acceptable if all the performers mime them well enough. Unfortunately this was not the case, and even the leads were caught out a few times with their mouths shut or miscued. Our compensation for this was the excellent acting and dancing by all of the main cast (as you may have noticed I especially appreciated the Rani understudy), who all managed to keep it in top shape without having to rely on numerous takes to get it right unlike their true Bollywood counterparts have to. Jaffrey was charming, I fell in love with Kalidas, and was (almost) tempted by the Rani understudy. I hated Rawi with a passion, but luckily King was there to distract me with her extremely apt and funny overacting.

On the other hand, and this is my biggest gripe of the show, the main cast were almost let down by the ensemble, who at times missed their cues and timings and generally slightly tarnished the polish the rest of the show had. I am guessing the cause of this is that there is just not enough Asian talent out there to fill the demands placed by a show like this, but who knows - maybe this will change in the future? I certainly hope it does.

So, should you all go see it? Hmmm, well that's the second tough question I have faced in this little review of mine. If you are only going to watch one theatre production this year, I would advise you to consider something else and maybe choose something that would do justice to the format. If you are going to watch more than one or you have seen everything else on offer already, well then give it a shot. If you do decide to see it, do not expect something that will necessarily use theatre or the Bollywood theme to their full potential but instead expect something that makes a decent attempt to and on the whole suceeds in making them compliment and accentuate each other. This is a show that’s more than the sum of these two particular parts, and I can say that you will all find something here that you may never in either a standard Bollywood flick or theatre production. The original cast rotates pretty soon, so now is the ideal time to go.

3/5

Hmmm.. I wonder who they’re referring to when they sing "Shakalaka Baby"....

Originally posted as spammy (7382nd post) on the ALMBs.

Roma

1st March 2003 - Stansted (STN) to Rome (ROM)
4th March 2003 - Rome (ROM) to Stansted (STN)

Pakistan

15th August 2002 - London (LHR) to Karachi (KHI)
25th August 2002 - Karachi (KHI) to London (LHR)

Film: Bend It Like Beckham

First things first. Girls who play football are hot. There are no two ways about it. Don’t get me wrong - it isn’t hot in a "shorts and tee shirt" kinda way, it’s just that there is something about a girl who can kick a ball around.

Anyways, now that I got that out of the way I can get to the film. For those who don’t already know, Bend It Like Beckham is a film about Jess (Parminder Nagra), a young Asian girl about to take her A-Levels, who happens to be a fanatic about football. Due to prejudices and pressure from her parents to conform, this interest is on the whole restricted to a kick around in the park. This all changes, however, when Jules (Keira Knightly) spots her skill and convinces jess to sign up for the local girls’ team, The Hounslow Harriets. What ensues is a story largely about how Jess handles her parents inevitable objections (mainly by keeping them in the dark), with a good old fashioned love triangle thrown in for good measure.

Technically, the film has a "rough edges" feel to its editing and dubbing. This isn’t strange for a British film, especially the ones in this genre. This is no bad thing, in fact the film might have suffered if it received too much polish (how glamorous can you make Hounslow?), and in any case it had both the script and cast to make you see past this.

And what a script it is. Apart from being tremendously funny (are there any British Asian films that are not?) it really does mange to draw you into Hounslow and the Bhamra family, without using the usual emotional trickery that other films may use or getting you to relate to the subject matter (unless of course you happen to be a 18 year old girl playing semi-pro). On top of that, Asian viewers don’t get the patronising feeling that they may have felt when watching East Is East, while both the subject matter and the funnies are accessible by non-Asians too. Of course, the former will enjoy the film on a slightly different level to the latter, but on the whole the film is appreciated by all.

In terms of the topics covered, the film manages to tackle a wide variety of issues including sexism, racism, mixed relationships, arranged marriages, and even homophobia, but wisely avoids getting bogged down in the "solution" of any of them. Although this may seem a cheap and easy way out, it did stop the viewer from becoming overwhelmed by what the film way trying to tell us about the rigidness of Asian culture and indeed ourselves. Thus it came as a reflection of British Asian life, rather than a criticism or a lecture of how we should all live it, something that I feel has not been portrayed before.

The main cast did a great job. Parminder Nagra played the role of Jess perfectly, being a strong independent girl, whilst realising the importance of respecting her parents and culture, and eventually managing to find the balance that most young Asians strive for. Kiera Knightly uses her "wooden, but I’m pretty so it doesn’t matter" style of acting that she has used before. Of course it goes without saying that both girls, as well as the rest of the girls’ football team had a skill with the ball that put even me to shame (ahem). This is important as it adds to the overall realism of the film. Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Joe, the coach) portrays the love interest well, managing to be a hero while also respecting and accepting the problems Jess faces off the pitch. The fantastic lead roles do not stop the supporting cast from shining either, with Juliet Stevenson playing a fantastic Jules's mother. Oh, and make sure you keep your eye on Tony at the airport towards the end of the film.

The film is made complete with its soundtrack, avoiding taking the easy route and flooding it with popular Banghra. Instead, it uses tracks from Mel C and the like, reminding the viewer that this is a film set in Britain about a British Asian.

It seems that a lot of lessons have been learned from the past implementations of the whole British Asian genre, resulting in a new evolution that is so satisfying and rewarding you can’t help but praise it. It is both engrossing and believable, despite its story (which, lets face it, is less likely to occur than those of EIE and BOTB). There really isn’t much more to say than that, except that it’s much recommended, and you should all go watch it. Now.

4/5

Right. I'm off to find myself a girl who can play football....

Originally posted as shak (2332nd post) on the ALMBs.

Saudi for Hajj

15th February 2002 - London (LHR) to Riyadh (RUH)
3rd March 2002 - Riyadh (RUH) to London (LHR) (can't have been more than two weeks)

Prague

21st December 2001 - Stansted (STN) to Prague (PRG)
24th December 2001 - Prague (PRG) to Stansted (STN)

During Christmas - was snowing and lovely. Quite selfishly thankful it was before the flooding August the next year.

Canada

16th August 2001 - London (LHR) to Edmonton (YEG)
3rd September 2001 - Edmonton (YEG) to London (LHR)

Barcelona

1st July 2001 - Stansted (STN) to Barcelona (BCN)
5th July 2001 - Barcelona (BCN) to Stansted (STN)

Dublin

28th February 2001 - Gatwick (LGW) to Dublin (DUB)
4th March 2001 - Dublin (DUB) to Gatwick (LGW)

Hong Kong-Singapore

16th September 2000 - London (LHR) to Hong Kong (HKG)
20th September 2000 - Hong Kong (HKG) to Singapore (SIN)
28th September 2000 - Singapore (SIN) to Hong Kong (HKG) (was originally 26th)
3rd October 2000 - Hong Kong (HKG) to London (LHR) (attended university on the way back from airport!)