Not a Dream Run
By Monica Mehta

Mainstream critics panned A.R. Rahman’s musical, but the Indian-American audience failed to be dampened by the show’s negatives

The scene at the New York premiere of Bombay Dreams, the Broadway production of A.R. Rahman’s London stage hit, was one of unbridled excitement. On the red carpet, celebs like Edie Falco and Peter Boyle posed for cameras. Producer Andrew Lloyd Weber arrived with his family in regal attire. Well-wishers’ flowers deluged the backstage area. On stage, the cast delivered a rousing performance. India had arrived in New York.

The following morning, theater critics gave the musical a resounding thumbs-down. New York Times stage critic Ben Brantley, whose words can make or break a show, called it “an expensive model of blandness.” The Washington Post’s review ran the headline, “Belly Up in Bollywood.” The New Yorker’s John Lahr said it was “one of the silliest musicals in recent memory.”

For many Indian New Yorkers, who had seen the show in the month-long April preview period, the reviews were a shock. True, the show had its weak points, but who could resist Rahman’s foot-tapping score—especially the “Shakalaka Baby” sequence? Or the sincerity of the cast, most memorably Sriram Ganesan as the eunuch, Sweetie, and Ayesha Dharkar as the hip-swiveling diva, Rani? Or some of the seriously funny lines, like calling an Indian awards show “the Oscars with chutney”? Not that the London press had ignored the flaws, but then Thomas Meehan, Broadway writer extraordinaire, had been called in to make improvements.

The fact is, although Dreams tries to mock the cornier elements of Bollywood movies, it ends up encompassing all their flaws. The storyline is sari-thin, the love story iffy, the jokes corny and the acting unpolished. To a western audience that is looking for the emotional depth of Les Miserables or the out-and-out fun campiness of Hairspray, it is impossibly to overlook the negatives. But for those of us versed in Bollywood films—well, we’re used to it. The critical failure of Bollywood on Broadway turned out to be for the same reason Bollywood fails on the international film circuit: it doesn’t translate, it’s not subtle, it’s over the top.

Producers thought these issues wouldn’t matter to non-Indian, Broadway going audiences used to raucous musicals, but they did. For the Indians and Indophiles who enjoyed the show, a large part of the fun was in watching numbers they had seen on big screens and TV get acted out live. They also felt a sense of validation in seeing South Asian names on the marquee and understanding the cultural references about things like eunuchs at weddings. Indians who witnessed this landmark moment in the history of Indian entertainment won’t forget it soon. But not so with most non-Indian audience members.

The question now is: how long will the show run? Last year’s musicals like Flower Drum Song and La Boheme got markedly better reviews and lasted only five to six months. The Broadway Theatre is one of the largest on Broadway and the production is expensive, accounting for the $100 tickets. Then again, the show was not a critical success in London, but it has been running there for two years, with a second run planned starting in June. Whether or not that’s due to a more populous South Asian British community remains to be seen. Regardless, if you still want to see Rahman’s Broadway bow, get your tickets soon. This Dream may soon be just a memory.