The Merchants of Bollywood
Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant
Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells
21 May 2010

When in doubt, more sequins. This is the basic formula at the heart of Merchants of Bollywood, an Indian extravaganza currently playing at the Peacock Theatre, and it was apparently a winning one for the audience – cheers greeted one absurd number after the other, while I felt like I had landed in another dimension, where strange headgear and tacky colours were the triumphant norm. Now what do you write when a show is both terribly bad and predictably successful, or perhaps so energetically bad that it becomes successful?

I wanted to like Merchants of Bollywood. After all, Bollywood may well be the most successful film genre of all times, with, as we are reminded throughout the show, 15 million spectators every day – it also brings back memories of that magical heyday of musical films in Hollywood, when Fred and Ginger were gleefully tapping away on screen. The show is faithful to some typical traits of the 800 or so Bollywood films produced every year, with the presence of star-crossed lovers and a disapproving family. The plot itself is based on the choreographer’s own story: Ayesha (Carol Furtado) is the granddaughter of a renowned film choreographer from the classic Bollywood era, Shantilal, who ultimately disagreed with the direction Bollywood was heading and went back to his native Rajastan. Ayesha has been raised in the tradition of Kathak, but she rebels and leaves for Bollywood, where she becomes a successful choreographer. Still unhappy, she ultimately reconciles with her roots and is reunited with her love interest, Uday. (…)

» Read the full review in Ballet.co Magazine

Promotional image © The Merchants of Bollywood