Splendid Indian Musical: Merchants of Bollywood September 25, 2009

Time: 2009/9/25-2009/9/29
Venue: Poly Theatre
Price: 80/180/380/580/780/980/1280/2009

Ticketing: (86-10) 6417 7845 (www.piao.com.cn)

... In a timeless masterpiece

... The adventure begins

... In a world of music & dance

... Experience the magic

... And the mistery

Merchants of Bollywood - The Story

The story begins in India, in the deserts of Rajasthan, in the temple of Shiva.

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 cal 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 fued. 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.

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.

The finale of the show is colourful, thrilling, high-energy fusion of folk, classical, modern, Western and Indian dance forms.

Tears are shed, old wounds are healed, age-old conflict is reconciled in a powerful journey to the sacred heart of dance.

Bollywood - The dance of life.



Indian dance has always told stories. Classical dance depicted religious stories of the various exploits of many gods and goddesses of t he Hindu pantheon. Dance is said to have originated from Nat raja (‘Lord of Dance and Drama’), one of the many forms of Shiva.

Even today many of the folk theatrical forms of India are heavily reliant on dance and on telling the stories of various religious myths. The performance of the Ram-Lila (the story of Lord Rama) is one such, enacted annually in rural India.

With the advent of film, Indian dance moved to the silver screen in the 1920s. Gurus of classical dance were brought in to choreograph elaborate sequences in the early mythological films. Since they taught rather than performed they were given the title ‘Dance Masters’ – a term that still exists irrespective of qualification or gender.

The 1940s saw film choreography become a more and more important part of Indian films. So much so that their heroines began to be selected on their ability to dance rather than act. Many a classical danseuse made the shift to film.



Slowly but surely classical dance waned in favour of a more free flowing style, which was less pure and more ‘classically inspired’. The 1950s saw the birth of the ‘item girl’ or ‘Cabaret Dance’, usually set in a bar or public functions and sometimes as part of elaborate fantasies, Through these sequences audiences are introduced to the more titillating western styles of dance.

Music began to dominate the films of the 1960s and 1970s with dance being sidelined. But the 1980s and the birth of disco firmly placed dance back on a pedestal in Indian films. The archetypal military style formation of dancers was born in the 1980s and is still a strong in the modern film choreographer’s quiver.

India’s economic boom on the 1990s spawned the phenomenon of lavish Indian weddings, which were reflected in the dance numbers of t he film. Production values, sophistication and professionalism were brought in with internationally trained choreographers and soon background dancers were no longer props but important ingredients in dance numbers.

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