'Mumbai Star': A musical play trying to rise above the clichies

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Prachi Sibal 3 min read May 24, 2025, 05:30 IST role distribution and crew of ‘Mumbai Star’ Summary ‘Mumbai Star’, which debuted in India as part of the seventh edition of the Aadyam Theater Festival, provides the experience of a Western Dance music. Festival is, among other things, a musical, Messar, M. The story of an underdog, this production was devised as a project by the Min-On Concert Association, Tokyo, and it has now come to India with a renewed vision. When you start looking at the newly drawn Mumbai star, you instinctively know what to expect. The story is full of every conceivable Hindi film -inopes possible. A young boy, Dev, from a coastal village in Maharashtra, hopes to raise it in the maximum city. The story takes you through hardships in the city, young love, discovery of a mentor and a reality show that promises to transform lives. There is also friendship, conflict and opposition to the love story. The cast, produced by Devika Shahani and choreographed by Avantika Bahl, contains 15 dancers and two actors – Rajit Kapur and Srishti Shrivastava. From the earlier dance musical avatar that toured Japan in 2023, it was re -planned with a fresh narrator bow by Akarsh Khurana and Argoya Lahiri. Mumbai Star is an exercise in scale and extravagance with theater that has little to do with the story. But it delivers exactly what it promises – the experience of a Western Dance music stake rooted in a modern Indian context. And it does this through a Guru-Shishya story embedded in Kathak, a dance form that Shahani wanted to include in the performance. Also read: Weekly Planner: 6 Opportunities to beat the Blues View Full Image The cast contains 15 dancers and two actors (sits), Rajit Kapur and Srishti Shrivastava Khan makes no qualifications about the clichies in the play. He is joyful in the rehearsal room and just as much a cheerleader of the cast as his director. “I believe there is no story that has not been told. But the narrative is brand new, ‘he says. “I see myself as a sponge, try to absorb everything and learn what I can. With this production it was a immersion in the world of dance. And we just got a foot in the door, ‘he says. Khan had earlier Sing India Sing, a large-scale musical produced by Aadyam Theater in 2018. “It was my baptism through fire. It was an unknown area. But that’s the story at the end of the day, ‘he adds. The 11 songs, composed by Dhruv Ghanekar, were sung by leading singers such as Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala and Nakash Aziz. The Kathak pieces were choreographed by Songemi Awardee Uma Dogra Guest. To portray the versatility of the dance landscape of the country, the performance also contains jazz and hip-hop, with the occasional romantic ballad. Choreographer Avantika Bahl was initially intimidated by the idea, but soon came on board. “It was a combination of shapes that we wanted to bring on stage. It has a bit of everything, and it’s an accurate representation of the dance world, ‘she says. Most of her leather stems from the scale and the idea of ​​looking beyond choreography and composition. “With a dance show, the primary language is the physical vocabulary. Here we were on the crossroads of music, storytelling and dancing. The idea was that they would hold hands and take the story forward,” she says. Kapur is a joy to look on stage and bring a few laughter to the show. While he and Shrivastava add much -needed depth to the narrative and deliver heartwarming performances, the focus remains on the dance numbers. The songs are recorded in advance, and unlike most musical theater shows, there is no live singing. Avenav Mukherjee steals the show as Dev, which develops from a vulnerable boy to an overconfected artist. Shahani believes that her strength lies in building a wonderful team. “The most important thing is to get people who come into the room with their whole soul,” she says. ‘Mumbai Star’ will be staged on May 25 in the St Andrew’s Auditorium, Mumbai, 16:00 and 19.30 hours and on June 14-15 in Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, 19.30 hours. Prachi Sibal is a cultural writer in Mumbai. Also read: What to watch this week: ‘Pee-Wee as himself’, ‘Leila’s Brothers’ and more catch all the business news, market news, news events and latest news updates on live mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #Features Read Next Story