BLINDING Extravagance

If one scans through the list of personalities associated with the production,unprecedented is the word. Story by Javed Akhtar,music by Shankar,Ehsaan and Loy,choreography by Shiamak Davar and Glen D’Mello,costumes by Neeta Lulla,art direction by Omung Kumar,and a cast that boasts of starlets Gauhar Khan and Kashmira Irani,and TV actor and anchor Hussain Kuwajerwala in the lead roles. And bringing all of them together,Wizcraft and Apra. Talking of the 4-D theatre,it has layered projection screens not only in the backdrop of the stage,but also on both side-walls of the auditorium,in an attempt to make the audience a part of the scene. One can’t help but look up and wonder why the ceiling is so high above,with stands,lights trolleys hanging,akin to a television or a movie set,as things are supposed to happen on the stage,right? Wrong. Wait until you witness the lead actors making their grand entry flying over an eagle or through a boat that floats over the heads of the audiences,or the streamers that are sprayed all over the place during the grandiose sign-off. And often,the dancers and the performers would fill the aisles between the supremely comfortable seats to dance with much gusto. So this is what the whole 4-D fuss is all about,one wonders.

But as you are taken further through the two-hour musical,it becomes highly predictable,with just the acrobatics of the flying performers,energetic song and dance sequences and breathtaking sets providing some highs. The story in itself is quite insubstantial,with a clichéd storyline. A popular king,his jealous general,a political conspiracy that results in the murder of the king and queen; their infant son,thereafter raised by a gypsy couple,grows up to be a magician and performer,a stereotypical banjara named Zangoora,played by Hussain.

And it doesn’t end there. In truly filmy ways,he falls in love with a princess,while his childhood friend,who longs for him,nurses a broken heart,but still hangs on to their precious friendship. Zangoora then stumbles upon the fact that he is not a street performer gypsy,but a prince,and eventually sets upon the task of overthrowing the evil general and reclaiming his place on the throne of the fictional kingdom of Shaktishila. The story unfolds with blockbuster Hindi film songs,mostly glamourous dance numbers. And that perhaps is the only high point as far as the the performance is concerned. Choreography wins hands down,as extremely clichéd dialogues,slapstick humour and story take their toll. One just can’t help but notice Gauhar’s dancing prowess,as she steals the thunder from those around her. Even Hussain,an acclaimed dancer himself,is no match for her.

But maybe it was supposed to be like that. More performance and less of content. Full of larger-than-life sequences and less of a story. They had to be different to justify the promise of novelty,the promise of grandeur,luxury and justify its premium costs. Treading on pillars of a clichéd yet successful Bollywood formula and blockbuster Hindi songs also places the production in the safe zone,to guarantee audience’s acceptance. And talking of songs,while there was everything in it from Beedi jalaile to Choli ke peeche,and from Helen’s Mehbooba number from Sholay,to Laila main laila,the musical’s title-track Zangoora zangoora was a fast-beat composition catching one’s attention,and in a good way. However,with music directors of great calibre associated with the production,it was quite a let down that all they ended up doing was just one new song,while only rearranging music of the old hits.

Viraf Sarkari,director,Wizcraft,and also the executive creative director and producer of this production,wears Zangoora proudly on his sleeve. He compares it to nothing less than Broadway and West End,while David Frieman,supervising director,draws a close comparison to Mamma Mia,owing to the already famous music being used. Sarkari wants to develop Nautanki Mahal as the ‘multiplex of live entertainment’,and justifies the ticket costs,which most would believe place it beyond the reach of the common man. “This is an extremely expensive production and has cost more than a regular B movie. And then,we are offering a quality entertainment product that is right up there with the best in the world,if not better. Even if you go to watch Broadway,it would cost you 60 pounds per ticket,” he says. He refrains from commenting on how long will this production continue,and says he will run it for as long as possible.

While comparisons to Broadway and West End might be rushed,the production seems to be targeting foreign tourists and the growing population of expats in India’s corporate circles,apart from the obvious and expanding class of Indian elites. The cost,location,a story that is dripping with the exotic— something that has been tagged to India’s image abroad—and,of course,the timing of the opening,just days before the Commonwealth Games,are hard to miss. And whether Zangoora translates into the advent of a ‘popular theatre’ culture and 4-D performance theatres in the country will only be a derivative of time. If your purse allows,you may drop in for the larger-than-life entertainment experience,which just might not be limited to the stage,while content curls up playing second fiddle to the extravagance,maybe sacrificed for the security and comfort of popularity. Zangoora-The Gypsy Prince is still worth the experience,though a little more experiment with the script and the story could have done it a world of good.