I’m fond of the exuberance of Bollywood and love lots of colour and bling, which is just as well as this show has them in bucketloads. Billed as a musical, it’s more of a Best of Bollywood and the dancing is of course the star. The packed audience were as exuberant as the show and it was completely infectious (no, I didn’t dance!) and huge fun.
There is a story, about budding composer Shankar, who’s idol is Bollywood’s ‘musical Mozart’ A R Rahman. He gets his big break and we follow him and the filming as he composes the score to Taj Express. It’s a love story where Bollywood actress Kareena falls for Arjan, who is devoted to helping young people avoid involvement in gangs. There’s a gangland baddie, a journey south on the titular train and we discover Arjun’s secret for a fairytale ending.
Though there are three onstage musicians for the composing story thread, the music for the dances is recorded, culled from, well, the best of Bollywood. The speeches direct to the audience, with attempts at topical humour involving Trump, May & Corbyn, misfired with me, but the rest of the audience seemed to love them. I was just there for the dancing and it didn’t disappoint, with twenty dancers and actors giving us more than 30 routines, full of energy and exaggerated movement, with nods to Punjabi and Kathakali dance, featuring 1000 costumes and 500 ‘accessories’! You don’t look to Bollywood for subtlety and restraint and there wasn’t any; it was brash, loud, colourful and completely over the top.
What’s not to like about a Bollywood party?
Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog 
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