You don't go for a production like CITY OF DREAMS expecting to find the meaning of life but the least you can hope for are good production values. And it isn't like you�re asking for too much given the big monies and sponsors backing productions like these. If it�s going to be Bollywood then it might as well be paisa vasool. To that end the histrionics of stage actors, Anand Tiwari and Mandar Chandwadkar save the show, which otherwise is as good as a flop. After all it is just like any number of those entertainments that Bollywood has spawned (baby bollywoods would perhaps best describe them) and glorifying it in the name of Musical theatre is not going to change things much.
Since Music, its most defining factor is not live and largely comprises popular Bollywood numbers the USP of the show is automatically down by more than half. Basically there is no originality to speak of. Unlike its Westend/Broadway counterpart produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the production dosen't even have a maestro like AR Rahman or a scriptwriter like Meera Syal to rely on. In terms of stage design and technical finessse, a Ratan Thiyyam production is more imaginative and sharp while costumnes are not only poorly designed but also look shoddy in places. If it�s going to be all glamour and razzmatazz it better do its job well.
Nevertheless the production has got a good pace; the plot is simplistic as it should be and thankfully there is no dilly-dallying over unnecessary scenes. Introduction, exposition, conclusion. Writers Mohammed Morani and Gautam Joglekar have worked that out at least. For a first performance Lucky Morani manages to stand, pose, dance, speak and exhibit a few mudras without fumbling too much. Kashmera Shah who is used to doing stage shows, including some theatre, is more at ease and there�s something to be said about her attitude which her character demands.
The stars of the show however are Anand Tiwari, Mandar Chandwadkar and Shipra Singh. Anand Tiwari in particular does a fine job with his three cameos; the best of them being his caricature of an effeminate choreographer. This being hardly the place to raise issues about stereotypes, Anand�s convincing portrayal is clearly the highlight of the show. If there�s any resemblance that the production may have to theatre it is in the calculated performances of these three actors.
Otherwise it�s like baby bollywood wanting to be in the shoes of the big daddy. So much so that the daddies and mommies of Bollywood are doling out their gyaan in recorded clips that are projected throughout the production. Rakhi Sawant provides the comic relief as the denizens of Bollywood get philosophical in their reflections but even she could do little for a production that could have got some of its basics right. If CITY OF DREAMS were in competition with a Shiamak Davar show or a Filmfare awards� night, chances are that it would lose out to those events.
*The writer is Editor of this site, a theatre critic and an academic keenly interested in Theatre and Performance Studies.
