Baiju Bawra

A review by Ajay Pamneja (Webmaster).

A musical written by an ex-club DJ!! I had these visions of a musical-mutant of a classic Bollywood film which would now appear on the theatre stage. I was pleasantly surprised after seeing it at the Theatre Royal, Stratford in East London.

The original film was a classic very close to the classical music and still with a popular appeal to the masses of India. I first read about Niraj Chag's attempt to recreate that magic on stage in the StageWriter magazine fron the NT. I was apprehensive of the outcome, but also have the open mind to accept that this is one way of bringing the Indian Classical music to younger generations of today.

I saw the musical on Tuesday, the 19th March. Despite some early hitches of missing cast members, the stage management were confident that the show could go ahead and it did with a big bang! The audience were enthusiastic and comprised of a very balanced mix of yound and mature, and the ethnic and the native population. I was pleased to see such a good mix in the audience - it was a sure sign of good marketing, publicity and of course the mass appeal of the musical.

The musical kicked off with some beautiful classical melody and sounds of the tabla and the harmonium and sitar. The stage was filled with beautiful costumes and dancers doing some classical moves to the tabla beat.

The young Baiju was aware of the death of his father at the hands of Tansen - the royal musician's guards. His early life was pre-occupied with catering to the attentions of the village girl - Gauri. The two were in love. The tracks that play while the two are courting on stage have a wonderful mix of eastern and western sounds. The only criticism is that the vocals were unable to rise over the instruments on a few occassions, but that did not affect the overall appeal of the music. There is a good measure of a humour thrown into the musical in the form of another village male who seeks the attention of Gauri and his sidekick. The only way they can compete with Baiju is by offering some of their own musical offerings to Guari. This comes in the form of some light remixes like the 'Shooting star' and others which sometimes give the musical a comical/panto feel. I am also not sure of the basis of the 'Delia Smith' sequence with the main female character trying to demonstrate her cooking skills to appease her father who is angry because of her association with Baiju. But I suppose these offered an essential elemennt of humour and light music in an otherwise intense classical music inlfluenced production.

The best part of the play is the training phase where Baiju takes his education in music from his master Guru Haridas. The set design, music and visuals are all excellent although the vocals again are on the mild side. This is followed by the climactic singing duel between Baiju and the mighty Tansen. Although no match for the long DV Pulskar and Ustad Amir Khan sequence in the original film, but this is intended for a very different audience and hence an excellent window to the intensity and the vocal control needed to master the art of classical music. This part of the musical is well displayed with part of the stage dedicated to the marriage of Gauri with Baiju's competitor after Gauri has given up on Baiju who is now totally immersed in his music.

A musical highly recommended for its excellent soundtrack, costumes and a perfect balance of classical and popular music.  An ambitious first musical with mass appeal which would make anyone associated with it proud, especially young Niraj Chag. 

In this wave of Bollywood gaining acceptance and recognition in the mainstream world - in the form of Oscar nomination for Lagaan, arrival of Bombay Dreams to the Westend this is perfect timing for this musical at the prestigious Theatre Royal, Stratford. It is showing there until the 13th April 2002.

I believe that this musical has all the ingredients to be in the westend very soon. And I am sure that someone with the resources will see the potential too.  More financial resources mean more visual/special effects can be added to this one.