You'll develop a crush of your own---
Bombay Crush
December 6, 2005
By Debashine Thangevelo
Who: Gaurav Chopra, Kajal Bhagwandeen, Vaibhav Joshi, Waseem Shaik, Rajiv Mothi, Ebrahim Medell
Where: iZulu Theatre, Sibaya
When: Currently showing until mid-January on Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7.30pm; Sundays at 3pm. Tickets cost R95. Book through Computicket
That well-worn clich – "time flies when you are having fun" – couldn't be more appropriate for the lavishly-budgeted Bollywood-style musical Bombay Crush.
For two hours, the audience is left spellbound by the visually-stimulating, high-energy musical intertwined with melodrama. When theatregoers aren't in fits of laughter, their heads are bobbing to the infectious beats of contemporary Bollywood tunes – Main Hoon Na, Yeh Dil, Bunty Aur Babli, Nache Baliye and Salaam Namaste.
The love story at the heart of the musical is that of Salman Ahmed (Gaurav Chopra) and Minal Singh (Kajal Bhagwandeen). The village of Rander, India is where the tale begins. Birbal Singh (Rajesh's father) decides to send his son to Durban in an effort to tear him away from his love interest Yasmin, a Muslim.
However, Rajesh (Rajiv Mothie) refuses to abide by his father's wish and gets his friend Salman to go in his place instead.
When "Rajesh" arrives at Durban International, he is warmly greeted by his hosts Vinod (Vhaibav Joshi) and Geeta Singh (Jacqu du Toit). However, while Rajesh is smitten by the sight of their striking daughter Minal, she is not impressed by the village bumpkin and gives him the cold shoulder
.
In true Bollywood-fashion, they later fall in love but Minal's college buddy Pravesh (Waseem Shaikh) is not impressed with the budding romance and, sensing all is not what it seems with Rajesh, sets out to do a bit of snooping.
How Rajesh/Salman deals with the consequences of this deception forms the backdrop of the riveting climax. Bombay Crush is a polished offering and writer-director Junaid Ahmed manages to keep a strong Bollywood masala flavour while Africanising the production.
Ahmed's funny side filters through strongly in the dialogue maintaining a light-weight balance between music and melodrama. The colourful costumes are exquisite.
Jay Pather's choreography ensures fluid and flawless dance scenes. The dancers, too many to name, deserve to be applauded for their laborious efforts that make the dance scenes seem so effortless.
The lead actors, Chopra and Bhagwandeen, are endearing in their respective roles; ditto for the "bad guy" Shaikh, Joshi as the father and Mothie as the lovesick son.
With all these elements integrated with the splendid set, featuring exciting live video footage of Africa in the backdrop, as well as designed theme shots, Bombay Crush is pure, indulgent escapism.
This is an article form tonight.co.za about the Blockbuster musical BOMBAY CRUSH he did in South Africa! I read that he was such a super duper hit with Southafrican audience that he was invited for several fashion Weeks, Bridal Shows etc as a special CELEBRITY for walking RAMP. Edited by vinnu-gaurav - 16 years ago
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