Last year Kiran and I (Amani) experienced the art and beauty of live Bollywood.
When we received an email earlier this month that ‘Bring On The Bollywood’ was doing a 2017 UK tour, I couldn’t resist.
Phizzical in association with the Belgrade Theatre present ‘Bring on the Bollywood’; A East meets West, British romantic comedy which fuses both the British and Indian cultures beautifully together through colour, music, dance and witty humour.
I have to say Phizzical brought the classic Bollywood experience straight to my seat in Coventry.
Bring On The Bollywood is the perfect performance for all those who love traditional and contemporary Bollywood as well as musical theatre fanatics. If that best describes you then this production needs to be on your list.
The story starts with the fiery heroine – Dr. Katrina Pawar (played by Nisha Aaliya) a hopeless romantic living in London, who constantly dreams of a Bollywood
fairy tale romance.
Katrina is called to her ancestral home in India; the Lakshman Villa, to attend her younger brother, Lucky’s wedding (played by Anthony Sahota).
Her mother (played by Sakuntala Ramaneeis) a professional matchmaker and more than ever determined to find her a nice Indian suitor during the festivities.
On the plane she ends up bumping into and sitting aisles apart from the intriguing Ronny (Played by Robby Khela). Ronny is on a journey to scatter ashes and bring
holy water back for his father.
Remember this is Bollywood, Katrina and Ronny’s paths cross again once they are India.
Ronny’s cousin, Bollywood film director Amit (Yanick Ghanty) arrives at the Lakshman Villa, in order to seek his true love who ends up being Katrina’s future sister in law.
Uh-oh, this just got a whole lot trickier.
I felt a real connection to the characters through out the show, I feel the cast did a great job in letting their roles and personalities shine.
Katrina’s parents; the Colonel Sunder Pawar (played by Rohit Gokani) and Lalita Pawar (played by Sakuntala Ramanee) kept the audience laughing with their witty humour and sarcasm. Not only did they provide heaps of humour but they were also able to capture the essence of how Asian families can be, which I think the British Asian crowd can relate to.
Being a musical, expect to see loads of dancing and singing. The whole cast did a superb job when it came to their singing debuts however a few characters really captured my attention for instance: Ronny (Robby Khela), came across to me very Zack Knight; a great singer especially when he sang Lata Mangeshkar’s classic ‘Lag Jaa Gale’; truly talented.
Another two characters that really stood out for me was Ronny’s ex wife (played by Avita Jay) and Rekha (Played by Sophie Kandola), absolutely beautiful voices, I would have loved to have heard them sing more.
The cast and costumes were all superb and very glamorous! Especially the dancing, the different styles of Indian music used were thoroughly enjoyable. The choice of music is very catchy, it left me having to try and find the soundtrack and downloading the songs onto my phone for my car journeys.
Hats off to the director Sâmir Bhamra and the team for creating such a fun and entertaining show. The infectious dazzling essence of Bollywood is effortlessly
captured in this loveable production. We can guarantee you’ll be thoroughly entertained, and by the end of the show, day-dreaming of running away to dance in
India’s Shimla hills or the Valley of Flowers. A must-see for all the family as well as Bollywood and theatre fans alike.
And in case you think you’ve missed it, there’s still a chance to watch the show.
Bring On The Bollywood UK 2017 Tour Dates:
Ipswich – New Wolsey Theatre
Tue 16 – Sat 20 May
Kingston, London – Rose Theatre
Thu 25 – Sun 28 May
Doncaster – Cast
Wed 31 May – Fri 2 June
Hornchurch – Queens Theatre
Tue 13 – Sat 17 June
Poole – Lighthouse
Thu 29 June – Sat 1 July
London – artsdepot
Thu 6 – Sat 8 July
York – Theatre Royal
Tue 11 – Sat 15 July
Oldham – Oldham Coliseum Theatre
Tue 18 – Sat 22 July
Cornwall – Hall for Cornwall
Tue 1 – Sat 5 August
Oxford – Oxford Playhouse
Tues 15 – Sat 19 August
Peterborough – Vivacity Key Theatre
Thu 24 – Sat 29 August
BRITISH BINDI 