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 Mumbai Star - A gripping dance musical - Uttara Asha Coorlawala e-mail: uacoorlawala@gmail.com June 3, 2025 I recently saw not Bombay Dreams but Mumbai Star - a gripping dance musical about a young man from an unknown village who comes to the big city to live out his dream - be a star. Sure, observes sceptic character Laya, herself a would-be star and one of the two sutradhars. Sure, a commonplace scenario and if he wants to be a star he needs to be groomed, he needs a love interest and... and... and.... By this time in the production one has already seen riproaring upbeat energetic dancing and some Kathak. What follows only gets better, more exciting and continuously exhilarating. The dancing blew me away and I returned to see the show again and only enjoyed it more fully! The show is about dance and dancers and is danced fully with freshness, and joy. Kathak, hip hop, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, ballet, contemporary dance, and jazz dance flow in and out of each other as they take the stage. A party scene cites as it transforms moves from Robert Fosse's party scene in Sweet Charity. The young man/nayika Dev played by Avenav Mukherjee improves visibly as he 'studies' Kathak (choreographed by Uma Dogra) and blossoms into a dazzling Kathak with clean lines and sparkling rhythms. His teacher "the ustad" Abhishek Choksi seems to perform a wilder more tandava Kathak. Some dancers are more hip than others but the fast paced ensemble work is smooth. Kudos to Avantika Bahl.  Competition to be The Mumbai Star Photo courtesy: Aadyam Theatre When I started dancing in the 70s, it was a heinous sin to juxtapose ballet and Bharatanatyam, modern dance and Indianness, but here, in 2025 it was all profusely assembled fusions and more-than-ably executed by a cast of 15 versatile dancers. In the competition scene to be The Mumbai Star, each ensemble member starred in their own dance form each distinct and clear. Their proficiency was such that one marveled at how they could each perform so many styles so effectively. Yes, I am raving, for the show was directed by none other than Nadir Khan, scion of directing in Bombay theater. His was the task of connecting, editing, generating. Lighting, music, sound, sound effects and the sheer numbers of entrances and exits all have to be tracked and on track. And of course, that Bombay theatre audience was right with it responding enthusiastically. How Mumbai/Bombay I thought! Where else would one find so many multi-talented dancers and diverse co-operative guest choreographers - all 5 of them, Uma Dogra for Kathak, Vivaran Dhasmania for Hip Hop, Krithika Mehta for the Bollywood and Surabhi Andrade (Bharatanatyam and yoga). One wants to say the collective effects of the dancing was envisioned by the talented choreographer and contemporary dancer Avantika Bahl who made sure that the forms were not compromised even as they melded and who choreographed several of the numbers with Surabhi's assistance. Rajit Kapur played a magnificent and stately narrator while Srishti Shrivastava inquisitioned and provoked him with verve.  Photo courtesy: Aadyam Theatre Weaving all this together, action, dances, lights, and sound was organized skillfully by Nadir Khan who has a fine international reputation as a director and in the interest of full disclosure is also my nephew. Actually, the show I understand was conceived and produced by Devika Shahani for a tour of Japan where the Hindi script was translated into Japanese and streamed above the action. I don't feel qualified to speak about the catchy music by Dhruv Ghanekar with lyrics by Ishita Arun, but I do have to say that the story within story was not just engaging but thought provoking - especially the scene with multiple dancing reflectors suggesting the narcissism and isolation that comes with success. Also endearing was the scene where Dev first sees his love interest (Arushi Nigam) and both are lifted up by the chorus to suggest that each was floating in an imaginary cloud! Only to descend to earth and be pulled apart by the villain-father. The whole show was funny and charming, and commenting upon itself constantly. 
Mumbai Star by Aadyam Theatre will now travel to Delhi in June 2025 (at Kamani on June 14 & 15) and then return to Mumbai in July 2025 at the NCPA's Jamshed Bhabha Theatre to complete their opening run for Season 7 of Aadyam - the Aditya Birla Group's theatre initiative.  A long term curator of the Erasing Borders Dance Festival in New York, Uttara Asha Coorlawala is interested in bridges between writing and performance, ownership and recirculations of movement. She teaches at Barnard College/Columbia University dance program, and formerly at the Alvin Ailey American Dance School. |
