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Bombay Dreams:The Magic Begins

Topic started by STONE COLD (@ 210.186.78.221) on Thu Apr 29 21:29:29 EDT 2004.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/bdreams.htm

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Responses:

• From: STONE COLD (@ 210.186.78.221) on: Thu Apr 29 21:30:30 EDT 2004
  
  Tracks
  
  1. Bombay Awakes
  2. Bombay Dreams
  3. Like an Eagle
  4. Love Never Easy
  5. Don't Release Me
  6. Happy Endings
  7. Ooh La La
  8. Shakalaka Baby
  9. Famous
  10. I Could Live
  11. Only Love
  12. Chaiyya Chaiyya
  13. How Many Stars
  14. Salaam Bombay
  15. Closer Than Ever
  16. Ganesh
  17. Journey Home
  18. Wedding Qawwali
  19. Bombay Sleeps
  
  
  What We Think
  
  Just when you thought Andrew Lloyd Webber was stuck in a rut, he pulls
  off a new success. But maybe the reason Bombay Dreams is so lively is
  that Lloyd Webber only acted as a Svengali producer, helping Indian
  composer A.R. Rahman (Lagaan) make his debut on Western stages. And
  that move proved to be inspired.
  
  Indeed, at a time when many people complain that new musicals have
  become dreary and have lost all sense of fun, Lloyd Webber imported
  talent from the one place where entertainment for entertainment's sake
  is still alive and well: Bollywood. The Indian film industry cranks
  out hundreds of movies every year, a huge number of them deliriously
  gaudy musicals, and so it was a natural resource to mine. The plot of
  Bombay Dreams is on par with your usual musical-theater fare, but the
  songs are unlike anything ever heard on Broadway or the West End.
  Sure, the lyrics by Don Black (Sunset Boulevard) flirt with sheer
  idiocy, but the music that surrounds them is so irrepressibly lively
  that you'll simply focus on it and it alone. Borrowing both Indian
  (ragas) and Western (electronic dance music) elements, Rahman and his
  co-producer, Marius de Vries (who's worked with Björk), have come up
  with a delicious musical treat. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
  
  Customer Reviews
  
  Average eBroadcast Rating:
  
  Rating: 5 out of 5 stars- Beam me up to Bollywood
  I saw Bombay Dreams in London with my family this past Boxing Day. A
  silly plot but a wonderful spectacle and fantastic music. The whole
  family enjoyed it, including all three of our teenagers!! We've
  purchased 3 copies (1 for each teenager) and have been listening to it
  ever since; a great recording that captures the enthusiasm and
  vibrancy of the show. We highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys
  musicals.
  
  
  Rating: 5 out of 5 stars- Rahman does the business
  I saw 'Bombay Dreams'performed in London last week. The plot is silly
  and throwaway but the songs and dancing are truly fantastic and so
  I've just ordered the original cast recording, which for some reason
  is not available in London.
  
  Much of the music is vibrant but with strong melodies.There are also
  some beautiful ballads.
  
  'Love Never Easy', 'Shakalaka Baby', 'Chaiyya Chaiya', 'Salaam
  Bombay', 'Journey Home' and 'Wedding Qawali' made a particular impact
  but I'm just looking ... Read More
  
  
  Rating: 5 out of 5 stars- Bombay Dreams Kicks
  My wife and I just returned from London where we saw Bombay Dreams on
  two consecutive nights. This shows rocks. If you like music that has
  rhythm and energy, you'll want this album. Highly recommended.
  
  http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/cgi-bin/buy/online-mode-music-search_type-Arti=
  stSearch-input_string-Raza+Jaffrey-searchus.html
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From: STONE COLD (@ 210.186.78.221) on: Thu Apr 29 21:31:54 EDT 2004
  
  'Bombay Dreams' hits Broadway
  By Kendis Gibson and Rosemary Jean-Louis
  CNN Headline News
  Thursday, April 29, 2004 Posted: 1430 GMT (2230 HKT)
  Broadway
  
  Theater
  
  Andrew Lloyd Webber
  
  (CNN) -- If a musical is a smash in London's West End, you have to make it even bigger and better for Broadway. Andrew Lloyd Webber seems to have adopted that mantra for his latest musical export "Bombay Dreams."
  
  Despite bad reviews, the song and dance show set in India's version of Hollywood (dubbed Bollywood) did big business in Britain during its two-year run. The show's producers are spending $14 million to ensure "Bombay's" success crosses the Atlantic.
  
  The revamped extravaganza features new sets and costumes. Musical numbers have been super-sized. A showstopper that featured a fountain with 13 hoses in the British version now features 32 hoses. The amount of lip-synching has also been reduced. This production contains only one lip-synched number.
  
  Other notable changes are in the show's script. "There are many points in the show where the jokes are quite [anglified], and they're specific for especially an Asian culture in Britain," says Stephen Rahman Hughes, one of the lead actors in the London show.
  
  Those jokes have been tweaked for American audiences. The storyline itself has also been retooled for American palates. The plot revolves around a man who rises above the Bombay slums to become a star in Bollywood. Along the way he falls in love with a woman of a much higher caste.
  
  Several subplots have been pared down, and the romance has been given more of a central role and has evolved into a love triangle.
  
  The rewrites were made by Thomas Meehan, the Tony Award-winning writer behind "Annie," "The Producers" and "Hairspray." Lloyd Webber was apparently pleased with the changes and will share them with fellow Britons. But they will have to wait until next year to see it. The London production will close June 13 to implement the upgrade.
  
  "Bombay Dreams" is now on stage at Broadway Theatre in New York.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From: STONE COLD (@ 210.186.78.221) on: Thu Apr 29 21:32:50 EDT 2004
  
  "If you're suffering from a ravenous hunger for rich, intelligent
  musical theatre, you're unlikely to be satiated by Bombay Dreams. But
  while this Technicolor patchwork quilt of a musical at the Broadway
  Theatre is hardly an example of masterful craftsmanship, it's still
  the most satisfying new musical of the Broadway season."
  
  Check out-
  http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/BombayDreams.html
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From: STONE COLD (@ 210.186.78.221) on: Thu Apr 29 21:33:57 EDT 2004
  
  Source - Indiatimes
  
  Lord of the Rings - Rahman pleases Tolkein!
  
  Interest in Indian cinema is truly at a peak in Western countries -
  no small thanks to the pioneering work of imminent Bollywood
  denizens like Shekhar Kapur , AR Rahman, Naseeruddin Shah, Gulshan
  Grover, Farah Khan and their ilk. And with a face like Aishwarya
  drawing gasps from all things international, it was a matter of time
  before Indian music too rocked Hollywood . For the latest in a slew
  of international collaborations will definitely be music to your
  ears. Rahman will now score the music for a West-End musical based
  on J R R Tolkeins (and Peter Jacksons, not to forget) The Lord of
  the Rings. The diminutive genius apparently didn't like the first
  two parts of the trilogy when he viewed it on screen, finding them
  too dark, but agreed to the project all the same. Considering the
  immense popularity of the Tolkein fantasy saga, no doubt this will
  be yet another feather in the musicians cap! And were sure he will
  soon be hooked on to this classic just as soon as he reads the
  entire series! Now let's hope he churns out some great Elvish music.
  Welcome to the fellowship ARR. JRR will most certainly be pleased!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From: STONE COLD (@ 210.186.78.230) on: Thu Apr 29 21:39:37 EDT 2004
  
  Trump, Guiliani, Spike Lee will attend Bombay Dreams
  
  Arthur J Pais | April 28, 2004 13:16 IST
  
  Donald Trump will not be heading to Broadway Theatre on April 29 to deliver his famous catchphrase in the television show, The Apprentice: You Are Fired!
  
  Instead, he will be there to applaud young actors like Manu Narayan, Anisha Nagarajan, Ayesha Dharker and Sriram Gamesman and composer A R Rahman, who debut on Broadway in one of the best theatres in New York.
  
  Trump is among the many celebrities and newsmakers, including several Oscar and Emmy winners, who have accepted the invitation for the premiere of Bombay Dreams, the $14 million musical that has been in previews for a month.
  
  The partial list of guests include Jewel, Mike Wallace, Spike Lee and former mayor Rudolph Guiliani, and a raft of headline-makers from the theatre world, including Julie Taymore (Lion King) and Susan Stroman (The Producers).
  Filmmakers Ismail Merchant and James Ivory will also attend.
  
  Producer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is in Los Angeles for the last few days in connection with the upcoming $90 million film version of his best known musical, The Phantom Of The Opera, will spend several days in New York promoting his newest Broadway show.
  
  "We are going to have a whole lot of powerful and colourful people," says Anita Waxman, producing partner of Waxman Williams. But don't expect to see the kind of spectacle one saw in London when Andrew Lloyd Webber had, among other things, a Mumbai cab going around the theatre before the premiere.
  
  "Andrew owns theatres in London," said Waxman, "so he can get a lot of things done there. But we are going to have plenty of fun. Our guest list is very impressive."
  
  Unlike at the London premiere about two years ago, the Bollywood contingent will be small in New York. Shah Rukh Khan was a big draw at the London premiere. But this time, he and choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan will be
  in Mumbai for the opening of their Main Hoon Na.
  
  Several Bollywood stars are now in America, but they are tied up with a number of shows on the West Coast. Singer Shankar Mahadevan, who has performed several hit songs for Rahman, was expected to attend. Mahadevan is in New York for the Bollywood Awards.
  
  Several Bollywood stars, including Kareena Kapoor, had shown interest in attending the premiere since they are also coming for the Bollywood Awards, but their arrival schedules might make it difficult for them to attend the event.
  
  Unlike on other nights when the Broadway shows starts at 8, on April 29 the curtains will go up at 6.30 pm. The guests will start arriving an hour before the show. The post premiere party starts at 9.30 pm, and would wind up before
  midnight.
  
  An hour after the party, the talent behind the show and its producers will be glued to their computers, scanning the reviews.
  
  "We are not expecting every newspaper to write a positive review," Waxman said. "If critics come to this show with an open mind and enjoy a lovely musical comedy, they will write good things."
  
  She also remembered that two of Lloyd Webber's most popular shows, Cats and The Phantom Of The Opera, got many negative reviews in New York and London. The former ran for nearly two decades in New York and The Phantom is in its 18th year in New York. Both shows have had extremely successful versions running in over 50 cities across the world.
  
  "We have an exuberant show with a wonderful new cast, and we have been having very good responses during the previews," Waxman said of Bombay Dreams. "The performances and the could only go to be better day after day."
  
  "We are thrilled with the four Outer Critics Circle nomination, thrilled that critics from outside New York have liked our show," she added, "and we hope we will do well at the Tony's too."
  
  The Tony nominations, Broadway's equivalent of the Oscars, will be announced on May 10. The cutoff date for the nominations is May 5.
  
  For the London premiere, Rahman had invited some of the biggest Indian filmmakers, including Subhash Ghai as he had rewritten some of the songs from their films for Bombay Dreams.
  
  "I had also wanted them to see what I have been doing," Rahman said two weeks ago, recalling the London premiere.
  
  "I had been away from Mumbai and Chennai for over a year, and some of them might be wondering, 'What is this boy up to?'," he said, chuckling. He did not know if any one of his London guests would be coming to New York. The Broadway show has been retooled considerably.
  
  But, he says, "They [the producers] may feel they have already seen the show," he added.
  
  
• From: Another review! (@ 65.34.237.129) on: Thu Apr 29 21:57:40 EDT 2004
  
  http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2004-04-29-bombay-dreams-review_x.htm
  
  'Bombay Dreams': A plain old bomb
  By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
  
  NEW YORK — How do you say "mind-numbing bunk" in Hindi? I couldn't tell you, but after attending a certain preview performance last weekend, I'd like to propose a new English-language synonym: Bombay Dreams (* out of four).
  
  Sriram Genesen acts his way out of the untouchable caste in an unwatchable musical.
  
  
  That would be the London-based musical that opened Thursday at the Broadway Theatre. I use the term "musical" only in the loose sense that applies when a contrived story and generic-sounding tunes are slapped together as an excuse to haul out glitzy sets, dizzying costumes and stupefying special effects.
  
  Here, the lure also involves a readily exploitable trend. "Bollywood," the Indian film industry, fascinates many Westerners, among them that British composer of generic-sounding tunes, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lloyd Webber is only Dreams' producer, but he has a fellow spirit in A.R. Rahman, whose music, a syrupy stew of faintly spiced pop clichés, suggests the equivalent of a Big Mac sprinkled with curry powder.
  
  The plot consists of similarly cliché-ridden, pseudo-populist hooey. It involves a family of "untouchables," the dregs of India's social caste system, whose village is about to be torn down by despicable developers. Our hero, Akaash, is a slum boy who escapes by becoming a movie star. He then falls for luscious Priya, who happens to be an aspiring director.
  
  Conveniently, Priya's boyfriend is a creep; we know this because he wears Gucci shoes and seems glued to his cell phone. We also know Priya is virtuous, because she wants to make black-and-white films that don't have happy endings. Besides, only she can save Akaash from the vixenish charms of screen siren Rani, who we know is evil because she wants him to reject his poor family. Worse still, she wants to wear a pink bra in Priya's black-and-white film.
  
  It's tough to say whose lines are lamer: librettists Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan or lyricist Don Black, whose contributes this doozy, sung by Akaash to his fellow villagers: "I'll come back with china plates for you to eat on/Some Persian rugs for you to wipe your feet on/And a toilet that has a toilet seat on."
  
  He should have saved himself the trouble — and so should you.
  
  

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