Bollywood Bursts onto Watford Stage
“You run around a tree with some fat guy old enough to be your dad.”
Goldy
“Find Your voice. Find Your Tribe”
Mother
The title is a skit on the 80s British Pop Group “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”. This musical production is from Pravesh Kumar of RIFCO, now based at the Watford Palace Theatre, who have been developing shows on the British South Asian scene for two decades. Looking at the photographs in this review will probably tell you more than I can whether this show is for you because its strength for me lies in the costume, the choreography and the sets rather than the story line.
It is based on a British Indian girl called Frankie (Laila Zaidi) who works in a cinema in Milton Keynes selling popcorn with her cousin Goldy (Katie Stasi). Frankie’s mother (Helen K Wint) has died but she left her daughter memories of her career as a singer and dancer. It is Goldy’s ambition to succeed as a Bollywood singer but her body shape doesn’t conform to what is required.
Frankie meets trainee director Prem (played by heart throb Navin Kundra) and she is whisked off to Bollywood where she becomes the hottest property. The aging male star is Raju King (Shakil Hussain) who invites Frankie to become a part of his inner power circle, called The Family. Did I hear someone say, “ A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips,” ? King’s current lead is Malika (a very fine voiced Helen K Wint) who is actually quite kind to Frankie despite the competition she poses.
After being seduced by the stardom in Act One, Frankie finds her inner value system and speaks out about the way women are treated by the Bollywood industry. I think the First Act, apart from the songs and swirling dance sequences could do with some tightening up but it is always difficult when you are setting up a denouement in the Second Act, to keep your audience fully engaged initially.
The costume changes are very impressive as we have a gym scene, one with pilots and flight attendants and of course dancers in saris performing traditional Indian dance with accessories of yards of silk chiffon. The scene back stage with changing costumes must be impressive to watch. I found the women dancers in this show to be of a higher quality than the men and I know that there are brilliant male dancers out there, I remember, from the production of Beyond Bollywood that I saw at the Palladium in 2015.
The broad comedy comes from Raju King and Gigi Zahir as Shona who camps it up in his red shearling Birkies and wearing a two feet wide red rose corsage. The other great comedienne with some of Kumar’s best lines is Goldy with her emails to her cousin in Mumbai.
The second act is tighter, although we maybe don’t get to see enough of Navin Kundra but there is outstanding singing from Laila Zaidi and Helen K Wint. Frankie shows she is an intelligent actor as she has to escape from the contract she was made to sign by Raju King. All is put to right with a celebratory, crowd pleasing finale.
Sadly the company haven’t developed a programme yet and I don’t buy the “saving the environment” excuse for a small flyer which I’d need a magnifying glass to read. I’m sure the appreciative audience would value a pictorial record of the show with cast biographies as well as the online information. I liked Rebecca Brower’s sets with multiple arches, lanterns and swagged curtains. The theatre’s proscenium arch has been given Indian architectural shapes and Philip Gladwell’s lighting enhances the colours and shiny fabrics. Credit must also go to Andy Kumar for his crucial joint roles as Costume Designer and Movement Director.
RIFCO have created an entertaining show which be very welcome for Bollywood fans who can be in the room where it happens, a long way from Mumbai.
The show is on tour to eight locations before it arrives at the SouthBank on 31st July 2024 for three weeks. Scroll down to Information notes below.
Production Notes
Frankie Goes to Bollywood
Cast
With:
Laila Zaidi
Nikita Johal
Gigi Zahir
Katie Stasi
Helen K Wint
Kuldeep Goswami
Navin Kundra
Shakil Hussain
Anna Maria Barber
Tash Bacarese-Hamilton
Hari Chandresh
Dhruv Ravi
Qoobi Robinson
Tamara Verhoven Clyde
Creatives
Director: Pravesh Kumar
Movement: Andy Kumar
Set Designer: Rebecca Brower
Costume Design: Andy Kumar
Musical Director and Supervisor: Josh Sood
Lighting Designer: Phillip Gladwell
Sound Designer: Chris Murray
Video and Projection: Gurkiran Kaur
Fight Director: Terry King
Information
Running Time: Two hours 30 minutes including an interval
Booking Watford until 11th May 2024
Then touring to
HOME Manchester
Wed 15 May – Sat 25 May 2024
Beck Theatre, Hayes
Tue 28 May – Sat 01 Jun 2024
Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch
Tue 04 Jun – Sun 09 Jun 2024
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
Tue 11 Jun – Sat 15 Jun 2024
Alhambra, Bradford
Tue 18 Jun – Sat 22 Jun 2024
Theatre Royal Windsor
Tue 25 Jun – Sat 29 Jun 2024
Belgrade Theatre Coventry
Tue 02 Jul – Sat 06 Jul 2024
New Theatre, Cardiff
Tue 16 Jul – Sat 20 Jul 2024
Southbank Centre, London
Wed 31 Jul – Sun 18 Aug 2024
Theatre:
Watford Palace Theatre
20 Clarendon Road
Watford
WD17 1JZ
Box Office enquiries:
01923 225671
Tube/Rail : Watford Junction
Telephone: 01923 225671
Website: watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge at the Watford Palace Theatre
on 30th April 2024
