Last week, Bell asked me if I am interested in watching Merchants of Bollywood. I had seen the advertisements on TV. It seemed pretty entertaining but I wasn’t interested enough to go and motivate myself to buy a ticket. I told Bell that I don’t mind watching it and we bought the tickets for the Saturday matinee.
The Plot
Vaibhavi Merchant
The story is based on the story of Vaibhavi Merchant, a top choreographer in Bollywood. The conflict between the grandfather and granddaughter is based on her life story. For the rest, I’m not sure how much is fact and how much is fiction.
Below is taken from the website:
In Rajasthan, the Merchant family dynasty holds the responsibility of upholding the ancient traditions of the Kathak dance, the dance of the Gods. Shantilal Merchant is the last in the line of gurus. This tradition is about to die out.
Shantilal was formerly a choreographer in the golden era of India’s great film industry, Bollywood. India was recovering from Partition. Division in the country had ripped the heart and soul of the people apart and Shantilal believed that Cinema could heal the wounds. Shantilal left when the industry grew commercial and lawless, influenced by western trends and dirty money. Shantilal began his own dance school in the desert, teaching traditional folk dance.
His granddaughter Ayesha left Rajasthan against his wishes to become the reigning queen of choreography of Bollywood films today. She has the Midas touch. They call her “The Princess of Romance”. Although they are family, their approach to film choreography could not be further apart. Shantilal believed that films should change people’s lives. Ayesha believes film should help people escape.
Reality or fantasy – there lies the conflict.
Ayesha’s teenage rebellion against her classical training, in favor of modern western dance styles, was the seed of their feud. The damage seems irreparable. Ayesha resolves to visit Shantilal to make peace. Her journey takes her to the heart of India – the deserts of Rajasthan and into the arms of her childhood sweetheart Uday. In the temple, the fires are burning low.
Uday and Ayesha
Her grandfather is dying. There is no one left to continue the family tradition, performing the dance of the Gods. Ayesha decides to marry Uday, and stay in Rajasthan to run her fathers dance school and maintain the family traditions. But she will run the school her way, in a balance of old and new.
Polar’s comments: I felt the last paragraph isn’t accurate as Ayesha decides to marry Uday after her quarrel with her grandfather and before she knew he was dying. Before Shantilal dies, he sees Ayesha dancing the dance of the Gods and the temple flames burning brightly. The ending sees Ayesha winning awards for her choreography but there was no indication about how she runs her grandfather’s dance school.
My thoughts
The story isn’t a strong point in Merchants of Bollywood as the dances are the main focus. It’s pretty obvious when the main character is played by a dancer instead of an actor. Most of the story is told by a narrator and I felt story is just a way to tie the dances together.
Uday and Ayesha
And what a lot of dances there are, all of them colourful and energetic. Bell and I recognized some of the dances from famous Bollywood movies as they kept closely to the original version, using back the same songs, moves and costumes. All the songs were upbeat and catchy and there was a lot of energy flowing on stage.
Bell and I enjoyed watching the dances but we also felt that the dances looked better in the movies. Because on stage, we can only view the dances from one angle while in the movies, the camera can capture the dance at the best angle for the best view.
The female lead is played by Carol Furtado who is a professional dancer. She is the only dancer with a speaking role. I think her acting was ok and her speech was loud and clear. But at emotional moments, like when Shantilal passed away, I cringed quite a bit at her cries. She is better at being a dancer than an actress.
Deepak Rawat as Uday
I felt the guys danced better than the girls. Maybe it’s because guys have more stamina as I felt that the guys were more lively than the girls. The most prominent male dancer was Deepak Rawat who played the childhood sweetheart, Uday. Even though he did not say a single word during the whole show, you can’t miss him. He usually appears shirtless, showing off his toned and muscular body. I have to admit that I kept looking at him and his toned six pack abs whenever he appeared.
Even after watching the Merchants of Bollywood, I still think Rani Mukerji is the best dancer. None of the girls can dance as well as her.
