I’m not really the Indian movie, song, dance person. I mean I’ve watched a few Indian films back when I was younger and they are what I consider the ‘classics’ but for the past couple of years I haven’t really been interested. This is why when my aunt asked me if I wanted to watch it I was a bit hesitant. Would I enjoy a show which was essentially about Indian dance? The answer to that? Yes, I would.
The show was only running in London at The Peacock Theatre for a few weeks and lucky for us, we managed to get tickets for the last week it was running. This also meant that the relatively small theatre was packed with an eager audience, some who I noticed were dressed head to toe in Indian garb. My aunt being someone who always gets good seats, we were not disappointed and had a great view of the whole stage.
The Merchants of Bollywood is not the Indian version of Shakespeare play which is what many people thought. Instead it is about the role and changes of Indian dance, both classically and within Bollywood. The storyline follows the traditional Bollywood ones in which a young girl called Ayesha who is trained as a classical dancer defies her grandfather and sets about to make her own name in Bollywood only to come back once again to her classic roots.
The storyline isn’t something to be entertained greatly by. While there was the delivery of cheesy jokes and classic pantomime –like characters, it was pretty easy to know what was going to happen, just like in an Indian film. However the cheesy dialogue and plot aside, it was the dancing which kept us entertained.
From the classic dances as performed in temples to the more 70’s style disco dancing and what I think was over hundreds of costume changes, we were all dancing in our seats. There was one part I the second act where the cast began to dance within the audience and picked out members of the audience to dance. At first the audience members were cringing inside but with the help of the cast everyone seemed to loosen up. It was one big party in the theatre!
It was an enjoyable and cheese-filled one time watch, filled with colours, music and even miming while dancing. For those who enjoy dance I recommend catching this show when it comes round again because if anything, it’s sure to make you laugh at the ridiculously brilliant production of it all.
The show was only running in London at The Peacock Theatre for a few weeks and lucky for us, we managed to get tickets for the last week it was running. This also meant that the relatively small theatre was packed with an eager audience, some who I noticed were dressed head to toe in Indian garb. My aunt being someone who always gets good seats, we were not disappointed and had a great view of the whole stage.
The Merchants of Bollywood is not the Indian version of Shakespeare play which is what many people thought. Instead it is about the role and changes of Indian dance, both classically and within Bollywood. The storyline follows the traditional Bollywood ones in which a young girl called Ayesha who is trained as a classical dancer defies her grandfather and sets about to make her own name in Bollywood only to come back once again to her classic roots.
The storyline isn’t something to be entertained greatly by. While there was the delivery of cheesy jokes and classic pantomime –like characters, it was pretty easy to know what was going to happen, just like in an Indian film. However the cheesy dialogue and plot aside, it was the dancing which kept us entertained.
From the classic dances as performed in temples to the more 70’s style disco dancing and what I think was over hundreds of costume changes, we were all dancing in our seats. There was one part I the second act where the cast began to dance within the audience and picked out members of the audience to dance. At first the audience members were cringing inside but with the help of the cast everyone seemed to loosen up. It was one big party in the theatre!
It was an enjoyable and cheese-filled one time watch, filled with colours, music and even miming while dancing. For those who enjoy dance I recommend catching this show when it comes round again because if anything, it’s sure to make you laugh at the ridiculously brilliant production of it all.