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Bringing on the Bollywood. Pictures: Nicola Young Bring on the Bollywood
Coventry Belgrade B2
***** PHIZZICAL
Productions easily justifies its name: it fizzes and whizzes, sizzles
and bristles and teases with comedy, makes you want to laugh and sing,
and tickles you with a storyline that could be a cousin of
The Comedy of Errors
or Twelfth Night. One is disinclined to
believe publicity blurb, but Bring on
the Bollywood really is what it says :
a romantic comedy plus a fantastic soundtrack interwoven with wit, wild
parties and wicked dances. A brand new piece written by director Sâmir
Bhamra in classic Bollywood style, while combining influences from
British Classical theatre and contemporary Bollywood: this was clever
theatre, and immensely appealing. True, I found it difficult to envisage here ‘The
Valley of Flowers’, exquisite mountainous country that the set -
attractive in itself - aspired to conjure up. If encountered ourselves
in a blaze of colour, it was thanks instead to a treasure box of
costumes, wild orange and turquoise, blazing pinks and greens and
apricots, which surely are the very essence of Bollywood presentations. The acting was so
colourful and energetic, so physical,
entertaining and
For me, Nikkita Chadha’s Rekha was the one who
delighted most: a joy to watch, a delight to hear; tender and
sharp-witted. But then Bhavin Bhatt’s ‘Lucky’ came good later on, witty
and on the ball, in an increasingly striking performance as the canny
son of the family. Sohm Kapila’s Katrina - sprung from a family that
is (of course) desperate to marry her off - and ‘manglik’ Ronny (Adam
Samuel-Bal) were central to the story. But it was Katrina and Lucky’s
family - Rohit Holani (daddy - The Colonel) and Sakuntala Ramanee
(mother) - who were an absolute hoot every time either of them appeared. A reason this Bollywood
show was such a terrific event - and it certainly shone - was because
the music - a vibrant collection - was so spirited, and somehow
right, and
because the dance, choreographed with real imagination and a sense of
glee and fun by Subhash Viman and his colleagues, with Prem Raj (Balraj)
a special treat, was electrifying. This was a show in which you felt joyously at
home, and in which the entire acting team had a twinkle about it that
easily gathered the audience into itself and made the evening a treat.
To 30-04-16 Roderic Dunnett 26-04-16
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vital, it set the Belgrade stage alight at every turn. The quality of
the speaking was superb - real high quality. Not that I was always able
to work out who exactly was who, or who was courting whom, or who was
who’s friend, at every turn. But most characters effortlessly shone.