Posts
12:25 AM
Given the anguish and humiliation that Shilpa Shetty suffered in the Celebrity Big Brother house earlier this year, the British public is probably prepared to forgive her almost anything. Even so, she’s pushing her luck with this shoddy piece of opportunism. Our admiration for the grace and generosity with which Shetty stood up to Jade Goody and her ignorant, xenophobic cronies made a winner and a heroine of the Bollywood actress. But this ill-conceived, half-baked star vehicle does her - and us - no favours.
Scripted by Niranjan Iyengar, a Bollywood screenwriter, and directed by Cineyug Entertainment and Michael E. Ward, the show blatantly exploits Shetty’s CBB ordeal. She could have seized the opportunity to reveal the talent behind the controversy. Instead, Shetty is content to reprise her reality television role as proud, injured innocent, to deliver knowing jokes about her unsolicited lip-locking encounter with Richard Gere and her CBB incarceration (”I’ve learnt that life can’t all be Goody Goody”) and to spout platitudes about extending the hand of friendship, even to her malefactors, across cultural frontiers.
Shetty certainly looks stunning, her body all muscular femininity, skin and hair gleaming. Her first appearance on stage - dressed in a mid-riff revealing, sparkly orange outfit - prompted whoops of excitement on opening night in Manchester. When Shetty wasn’t undulating her killer curves, though, impatient shuffling and muttering set in.
Anyone who wasn’t paying attention between numbers - a selection of hits from Bollywood movies - didn’t miss much. The preposterous plot, set in London in the near future, pivots on the conflict between an Indian dance teacher, Maya (Shetty), whose premises are under threat from the Olympic building programme, and a duplicitous Westernised impresario who wants Maya to add Indian spice to his company, so that he can claim cultural diversity and win a spot at the Mayor’s Trafalgar Square gala. There are also Maya’s profoundly irritating neighbours - a little girl whose good sense always saves the day and her father and uncle, a tooth-grindingly unfunny double act; and a beefy-but-sensitive love interest.
Needless to say, the spirit of togetherness triumphs in the end. Of course, far-fetched stories, overblown production numbers and sentimentality are all part of Bollywood’s appeal. But where The Merchants of Bollywood, last year’s touring dance-theatre extravaganza, thrilled with the scale, sparkle and slickness of its gaudy spectacle, this show is lacklustre. Ganesh Hegde’s choreography is snappy and the dancers are well drilled, but they’re also mechanical; the script is diabolical, the acting amateurish and no amount of dry ice can disguise the fact that Neeta Lulla and Shiraz Siddiqui’s costumes look nastily cheap.
It all lacks brio and excitement and though she is regally elegant to the last, Shetty alone isn’t enough to make it worthwhile. It’s a great shame that, having endured the Celebrity Big Brother debacle with such impeccable dignity, she should go on to capitalise on the experience with a substandard project that reeks of cynicism.
About time! Ms Sheety has for too long lived on the undeserved credit. Agrees she didn’t have the best of luck (read treated like garbage) on Big Brother….that said, not sure form where and how the fanfare set in. Any hindi cineam buff would be hard pressed to recall a Shetty film that did well on the box office or one where her performance was critically acclaimed. She’s been around the bollywood scene for the better part of 12 years and has never made it as a “bollywood star.” Acting might not be ger forte and the sooner she realizes this the better - for her and the audience. Humble suggestion - Ms Shetty you are stunning to look at - stick to the ad film world and you might just make it…
Vik Singh, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
First up - I haven’t seen the show but I have watched many a Bollywood film (in my past life). Eeuw! Going by the feedback from readers put in here it seems that the first line of this article has probably hit the nail on the head, albeit a trifle overdramatic a la Bollywood. The flamboyant colours, never-ending hamming, opulent song-and-dance sequences, over-the-top dramatics and nonsensical story lines are what typify the Bollywood genre. The “racism” and politically correct behaviour publicity of Ms.SS has been a shot in the arm for Bollywood and for her in particular. In this scenario, opportunism was a given whether one likes it or not. However, for the British people to suddenly discover or rediscover Bollywood and jump onto this Bollywood appreciation bandwagon is bizarre to say the least. Well, to each his/her own. However, you’ve got to be ready to take the rough with the smooth.
Toby, Calcutta, India
I also saw this show on Sunday and wonder whether the journalist above maybe walked into a parallel universe? Because the show I watched was thoroughly enjoyable, the costumes were fab and the dance routines did not disappoint. The only ‘muttering’ I heard from the audience were the whoops of recognition of the songs from the girls sitting next to me! I have never been to a show with such a great atmosphere, the dancing in the aisles being the icing on the cake. And so what if there was the odd reference to Shilpa’s recent headlines!… even Shakespeare used that trick to appeal to all of his audience!
AndreaC, Blackpool,
Source: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
Scripted by Niranjan Iyengar, a Bollywood screenwriter, and directed by Cineyug Entertainment and Michael E. Ward, the show blatantly exploits Shetty’s CBB ordeal. She could have seized the opportunity to reveal the talent behind the controversy. Instead, Shetty is content to reprise her reality television role as proud, injured innocent, to deliver knowing jokes about her unsolicited lip-locking encounter with Richard Gere and her CBB incarceration (”I’ve learnt that life can’t all be Goody Goody”) and to spout platitudes about extending the hand of friendship, even to her malefactors, across cultural frontiers.
Shetty certainly looks stunning, her body all muscular femininity, skin and hair gleaming. Her first appearance on stage - dressed in a mid-riff revealing, sparkly orange outfit - prompted whoops of excitement on opening night in Manchester. When Shetty wasn’t undulating her killer curves, though, impatient shuffling and muttering set in.
Anyone who wasn’t paying attention between numbers - a selection of hits from Bollywood movies - didn’t miss much. The preposterous plot, set in London in the near future, pivots on the conflict between an Indian dance teacher, Maya (Shetty), whose premises are under threat from the Olympic building programme, and a duplicitous Westernised impresario who wants Maya to add Indian spice to his company, so that he can claim cultural diversity and win a spot at the Mayor’s Trafalgar Square gala. There are also Maya’s profoundly irritating neighbours - a little girl whose good sense always saves the day and her father and uncle, a tooth-grindingly unfunny double act; and a beefy-but-sensitive love interest.
Needless to say, the spirit of togetherness triumphs in the end. Of course, far-fetched stories, overblown production numbers and sentimentality are all part of Bollywood’s appeal. But where The Merchants of Bollywood, last year’s touring dance-theatre extravaganza, thrilled with the scale, sparkle and slickness of its gaudy spectacle, this show is lacklustre. Ganesh Hegde’s choreography is snappy and the dancers are well drilled, but they’re also mechanical; the script is diabolical, the acting amateurish and no amount of dry ice can disguise the fact that Neeta Lulla and Shiraz Siddiqui’s costumes look nastily cheap.
It all lacks brio and excitement and though she is regally elegant to the last, Shetty alone isn’t enough to make it worthwhile. It’s a great shame that, having endured the Celebrity Big Brother debacle with such impeccable dignity, she should go on to capitalise on the experience with a substandard project that reeks of cynicism.
About time! Ms Sheety has for too long lived on the undeserved credit. Agrees she didn’t have the best of luck (read treated like garbage) on Big Brother….that said, not sure form where and how the fanfare set in. Any hindi cineam buff would be hard pressed to recall a Shetty film that did well on the box office or one where her performance was critically acclaimed. She’s been around the bollywood scene for the better part of 12 years and has never made it as a “bollywood star.” Acting might not be ger forte and the sooner she realizes this the better - for her and the audience. Humble suggestion - Ms Shetty you are stunning to look at - stick to the ad film world and you might just make it…
Vik Singh, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
First up - I haven’t seen the show but I have watched many a Bollywood film (in my past life). Eeuw! Going by the feedback from readers put in here it seems that the first line of this article has probably hit the nail on the head, albeit a trifle overdramatic a la Bollywood. The flamboyant colours, never-ending hamming, opulent song-and-dance sequences, over-the-top dramatics and nonsensical story lines are what typify the Bollywood genre. The “racism” and politically correct behaviour publicity of Ms.SS has been a shot in the arm for Bollywood and for her in particular. In this scenario, opportunism was a given whether one likes it or not. However, for the British people to suddenly discover or rediscover Bollywood and jump onto this Bollywood appreciation bandwagon is bizarre to say the least. Well, to each his/her own. However, you’ve got to be ready to take the rough with the smooth.
Toby, Calcutta, India
I also saw this show on Sunday and wonder whether the journalist above maybe walked into a parallel universe? Because the show I watched was thoroughly enjoyable, the costumes were fab and the dance routines did not disappoint. The only ‘muttering’ I heard from the audience were the whoops of recognition of the songs from the girls sitting next to me! I have never been to a show with such a great atmosphere, the dancing in the aisles being the icing on the cake. And so what if there was the odd reference to Shilpa’s recent headlines!… even Shakespeare used that trick to appeal to all of his audience!
AndreaC, Blackpool,
Source: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
0 comments:
Post a Comment