Energy of live dance entertains but falls
flat as a cinematic experience. (Review by Raeesa Abdul-Karrim)
The South African silver screen was
sprinkled with a little glitter this past weekend as Ster Kinekor screened the
stage production, The Merchants of
Bollywood. After a successful world tour, creators decided to immortalise
their work and reach out to their fans through cinema. Durbanites should remember the stage
production from a few years ago.
Written and directed by Toby Gough, it is
loosely based on the life of Hiralalji Merchant and his grand-daughter Vaibhavi
Merchant, two choreographers in Bollywood. The
Merchants of Bollywood takes us on an almost touching journey through dance
in Hindi Cinema. Hiralalji, or Shantilal (Arif Zakaria) as he is called in the
production, has firm beliefs on the traditions of dance. When his beliefs clash
with those of upcoming filmmakers of Bollywood, he decides that it is time to
retire from the fast-changing industry. His granddaughter Ayesha (Carol
Furtado), on the other hand, chooses to leave the local temple and join
Bollywood to create a fusion dance that combines the old with the new.
Undoubtedly, the production has received
high acclaim because of the dance sequences. The dancers perform every segment
exquisitely with endless energy. Together with popular filmy music and
shimmering costumes this is beautiful to watch. As a stage production we could
possibly forgive the unimaginative script, weak acting or the predictable digs
at Bollywood because you have the high energy of live dance to keep you
entertained. However, unfortunately as a cinematic experience it falls flat.
It was so disappointing to see that such a
successful international production would be presented so unprofessionally. It
felt like you were watching a recording of an amateur cameraman, with awkward
camera angles and looped crowd scenes. The multiple scenes where all you see
are the actors/dancers from the chin down are unforgivable unless I’m naïve and
the focus of the production was on the torso!
Seriously though, more thought and editing
should have gone into the final product, as it’s an unfair representation of
the internationally popular musical. – Raeesa Abdul-Karrim
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