Latest news with #Min-OnConcertAssociation
Mint
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
‘Mumbai Star': A musical play that tries to rise above the cliches
The seventh edition of Aadyam Theatre Festival features, among other plays, a musical, Mumbai Star, directed by Nadir Khan. The story of an underdog, this production was conceived as a project by the Min-On Concert Association, Tokyo, and it has now come to India with a renewed vision. When you start watching the newly-minted Mumbai Star, you instinctively know what to expect. The story is full of every imaginable Hindi film trope possible. A young boy, Dev, from a coastal village in Maharashtra, hopes to make it big in 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. Produced by Devika Shahani and choreographed by Avantika Bahl, the cast features 15 dancers and two actors— Rajit Kapur and Srishti Shrivastava. From its earlier dance musical avatar that toured Japan in 2023, it has been reimagined with a fresh narrator's arc by Akarsh Khurana and Arghya Lahiri. Mumbai Star is an exercise in scale and excesses with theatrics that have little to do with the story. But it delivers exactly what it promises— the experience of a Western dance musical rooted in a modern Indian context. And it does it through a guru-shishya story embedded in Kathak, a dance form that Shahani wanted to include in the performance. Also read: Weekly planner: 6 events to beat the blues Khan makes no qualms about the cliches in the play. He is joyful in the rehearsal room and as much a cheerleader of the cast as its director. 'I believe there is no story that has not been told. But the telling is brand new," he says. 'I see myself as a sponge, trying to absorb and learn everything I can. With this production, it's been an immersion into the world of dance. And we've only just got a foot in the door," he says. Khan had earlier directed Sing India Sing, a large-scale musical produced by Aadyam Theatre in 2018. 'That was my baptism by fire. It was unfamiliar territory. But, it's storytelling at the end of the day," he adds. The 11 songs, composed by Dhruv Ghanekar, have been sung by leading vocalists like Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala and Nakash Aziz. The Kathak pieces have been guest-choreographed by Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Uma Dogra. To portray the versatility of the dance landscape of the country, the performance also features jazz, and hip-hop, with the occasional romantic ballad. Choreographer Avantika Bahl was at first intimidated by the idea but soon got on board. 'It was a combination of forms that we wanted to bring on the stage. It has a little bit of everything, and that is an accurate representation of the dance world," she says. Most of her learnings stemmed 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 at the crossroads of music, storytelling and dance. The idea was for them to hold hands and take the story forward," she says. Kapur is a joy to watch on stage and brings a few laughs 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 pre-recorded, and unlike most musical theatre shows, there is no live singing. Avenav Mukherjee steals the show as Dev, who evolves from a vulnerable boy into an overconfident performer. Shahani believes her strength lies in building a great team. 'The most important thing is to get people, who come into the room with their whole soul," she says. 'Mumbai Star' will be performed on 25 May at the St Andrew's Auditorium, Mumbai, 4 pm and 7.30 pm and on 14-15 June at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi, 7.30 pm. Prachi Sibal is a Mumbai-based culture writer. Also read: What to watch this week: 'Pee-Wee as Himself', 'Leila's Brothers' and more
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Mumbai Star, a dance musical about highs and lows of chasing stardom, opens on Saturday
MUMBAI Star, a new dance musical, follows the journey of Dev, a young dancer from a coastal Maharashtra village, who musters the courage to follow his dreams of becoming a star and moves to Mumbai. He joins hundreds of hopefuls as he competes to win a major talent show and claim the 'Mumbai Star' title. As Dhruv mavigates fame, love, and identity, the play also explores his life-changing encounter with a mentor. Helmed by director Nadir Khan with choreography by Avantika Bahl and original music by composer Dhruv Ghanekar, this theatrical production brings together powerful movement and music to create a genre-defying theatrical experience. 'Mumbai Star alludes to what the city means to so many people, who come here to make their dreams come true and seek a better life. It is about their aspirations and determination,' says Khan. The dance musical, originally produced as a project by the Min-On Concert Association, Tokyo, has been revived as part of Aadyam Theatre. It will open at Mumbai's St. Andrew's Auditorium on Saturday evening. The play, conceived by Devika Shahani, has been reimagined by writers Akarsh Khurana and Arghya Lahiri for its upcoming production. Shahani says: 'Mumbai Star is a universal story about one of the most important relationships of our lives — the guru and shishya. I wanted to present the dynamic between mentor and disciple through music and dance.' The show's narration is led by actors Rajit Kapur and Srishti Shrivastava. Talking about the process of choreographing for the show, Bahl says, 'There's been a diverse number of forms that we've had — ranging from Kathak to Jazz to Bollywood to Hip-Hop. What's been both challenging and exciting for me is to be able to sort of find a common language. It's also been really wonderful to have our guest choreographers who've been able to add their own sort of voice to some of the compositions.' While Surabhi Andrade as associate choreographer 'came in with her own very distinct sort of personal voice and touch', Vivaran Dhasmana choreographs the hip-hop sets, Krutika Mehta brings the Bollywood flavour, and Vidushi Uma Dogra, a Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee, curates the Kathak pieces. The dance musical is the blend of 'storytelling, dance and music' that 'hold equal parts' in taking the story forward, says Bahl. 'Mumbai Star celebrates dance — both modern and traditional — and dancers themselves, as individuals and a collective,' believes Khan. The shows of Mumbai Star will be held on May 24 at 7:30PM; May 25 at 4PM & 7:30PM at St Andrew's Auditorium.
The Hindu
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
The musical Mumbai Star is an ode to movement, music, people and the city
Theatre director Nadir Khan describes Mumbai Star as a 'dance musical. It is all about dance and dancers, but is set in a theatrical format as it uses narrators to tell a story. Our idea is to blend movement, music and lyrics with the theatrical element.' Mumbai Star was originally written by Devika Shahani, directed by Nadir, with music by Dhruv Ghanekar. In 2023, the team toured Japan for the Min-On Concert Association. However, when it was selected for Season 7 of Aadyam, the Aditya Birla Group's theatre initiative, it needed a fresh approach. Devika, who is the producer along with Nadir had the script reimagined, which was adapted by Akarsh Khurana and Arghya Lahiri. It also brought on board Rajit Kapur and Srishti Shrivastava as narrators. Mumbai Star begins its India run at Mumbai's St Andrew's Auditorium (May 24 and 25), followed by performances at New Delhi's Kamani Auditorium (June 14 and 15). Choreographed by Avantika Bahl, with music by Dhruv's and lyrics by Ishitta Arun, it features eight songs. While Nadir earlier directed theatrical productions such as The God Of Carnage, Twelve Angry Jurors and A Few Good Men, he also directed the 2018 musical Sing India Sing, written by Rahul DaCunha and Bugs Bhargava Krishna. Nadir says, ' While Sing India Sing helped me know all about the world of music, I got to learn about dance in Mumbai Star. Mumbai Star tells the story of Dev (played by Avenav Mukherjee), a young man from a coastal village of Maharashtra, who dreams of becoming a star. With only his raw talent and a small amount of cash, he arrives in Mumbai, hoping to win a dance competition. Though this genre has been explored before, Nadir believes, each storyteller has his own perspective and adds: 'The first thing is to tell the story truthfully and interestingly, but, different modes may be used. Creating memorable moments on stage is pure joy for a director.' A major emphasis was in choosing the right dancers. Avantika worked with guest choreographers Uma Dogra (Kathak), Vivaran Dhasmana (hip-hop) and Krutika Mehta (Bollywood). Says Bahl, 'The effort was to bring together various styles, interwoven within the expansive framework of contemporary dance. As Mumbai Star also captures the city's spirit, we wanted the movements to represent people from all walks of life.' Avantika shares the choreography was driven by Dhruv's music compositions. 'It was exciting and challenging to find a way for the varied dance forms to blend and lend themselves to the storytelling, without breaking the overall rhythm of the piece.' The dancers come with intense training in multiple forms. Avantika elaborates: 'All of them are performers, teachers, and in some cases, choreographers. It was a delight to be in a room full of dancers, who bring in enthusiasm, spirit and grit, willing to push boundaries and bring their own perspectives. For the actors, we made sure they too could get familiar with the movement vocabulary.' Nadir reiterates that the effort was to bring in dancers who could adapt to other styles. 'For instance, there is Arushi Nigam, who plays Koel. She is a ballerina, who also does contemporary and jazz. But, here she also has to do a lot of Kathak, which was new to her. So the training was rigorous. One can't master a dance form in a few days but one can master the choreography for a particular sequence.' This is the fourth production of Aadyam's Season 7 this year. The initiative aims to push artistic boundaries in theatre through a good mix of original and adapted stories. The current season has earlier featured The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, directed by Atul Kumar, Chandni Raatein, directed by Purva Naresh and Saanp Seedhi, directed by Shubhrajyoti Barat. Along with theatre personality Shernaz Patel, Nadir also plays the role of a programming consultant for Aadyam. He says, 'We invite pitches, shortlist and select the final lot after a round of meetings. Aadyam gives producers the wherewithal to build a show and run it, so the costs are taken care of. Aadyam wants these plays to be present in the theatre ecosystem for years, and that has been the case with many productions.' Nadir feels this role has helped him serve the cause of theatre by enabling other Indian directors to present some wonderful work. He says the response to this season's first three plays has been 'encouraging, and hopes Mumbai Star will offer a completely different experience'.
