The interview titled "Dream Curry for the Soul" which appears below, was originally published on the The Asian Age website in December 2001. ©The rights to this material are reserved to the owner. If you have any concerns or comments, please send an email to info@rahmaniac.com.
The wheels have been set in motion and Bombay Dreams is gradually taking form. Pankaj Srinivasan traces the making of the much-awaited international fantasy.
It’s all under wraps; very few details are available, but it is confirmed that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s next musical is Bombay Dreams, inspired by A.R. Rahman’s spectacular Dil Se number Chhaiyya, Chhaiyya. The first hint that Webber’s next project would have an India flavor appeared on February 22, 2001, when it was reported that Webber had engaged the services of Don Black to write the lyrics for his musical, Meera Syal to script it, and A.R. Rehman to compose the music. It also emerged that filmmaker Shekar Kapur would be overseeing the project.
Preeya Kalidas, a 21-year-old Gujarati girl settled in London, has bagged the heroine’s role. Actor Dalip Tahil has been chosen for one of the four principal characters in the play. Tahil, just back from London, is ecstatic. “I went for the auditions early last month and was asked to sing a song from the play. I sang impromptu a song from Man of La Mancha, and the music director was so happy that he called Webber in and I sang it for him. Webber didn’t know who I was; yet I bagged the part,” he said.
Says Shekhar Kapur, “It’s very early in the life of the project with the story, cast, and script yet to be finalized. We will audition anyone who can sing and are looking at Asian talent all over the world.”
The only official news is that Webber’s now running musical, Starlight Express, will close at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on 1Z January 2002. And it is rumored that the next musical at the theatre, in mid April, is going to be Bombay Dreams.
Shekhar Kapur and A.R. Rahman have been in London for the last several months working on this project. Shekhar says, “Every south Asian dreams of becoming a Bollywood star. Bollywood is big and internationally recognized. Even Pakistanis and Bangladeshis want to be in Bollywood. This is the theme of the musical and for the first time, an Indian theme is being used in an international musical.”
Bombay Dreams is going to be released as an international album, a Broadway musical, and as an international video.
The album is being worked on in London. Shekhar says he is trying to persuade Webber to premier the musical in Mumbai, costs permitting. About 40% of the musical is now complete and 17 to 18 tunes have been created, says Shekhar.
Bombay Dreams is about the love story between the daughter of a wealthy Mumbai film producer and a young man who lives in the slums. It tells the story of the conflict between love and prejudice.
A worldwide search is on for the hero who, in Webber’s own words, “has to be India’s answer to John Travolta.” There are strong rumors that Aamir Khan has been approached to play the lead role, but when contacted, Aamir refused to comment. He has been in London for the last several weeks.
Andrew Lloyd Webber was born on March 22, 1948, in England, and on the distant shores of India, some 18 years later, on January 6, 1967, Allah Rakha Rahman was born.
Webber started playing the violin when he was three and at eight had already composed music for his school plays. Rahman started playing the piano when he was four and at 11, he joined Illaiyaraja’s troupe as a keyboard player.
Andrew dropped out of Oxford to pursue music in 1965, while Rahman had to drop out of school altogether due to the early demise of his father. He later went on to earn a scholarship to the famed Trinity College of Music and obtained a degree in Western Classical Music.
It is strange how similar their lives seem to have been. And what happens when the two meet? It is the stuff that dreams are made of – Bombay Dreams. The two may never have met if Andrew Webber had not happened to hear the soundtracks of Dil Se and Taal. He was enchanted by the music.
I was incredibly impressed by Rahman’s music. I asked him if he would come to London, and he did. I also asked him if he would be interested in doing a stage show. At that point, when he said ‘Maybe,’ I thought I better come to Mumbai and ask him. I was very happy when he agreed. I saw a very exciting Hindi film dance sequence on Channel 4 and asked Shekhar to give me more such music. And that’s how I met the amazing Rahman. He is the most extraordinary composer who is still true to his cultural roots and deserves to be heard by an international public.
I am not writing the music for Bombay Dreams. It will be entirely by the maestro here. Dil Se’s music was great and amazingly contemporary. My production company has produced several plays by writers other than myself, but this is the first time I will be working with another composer. I regard Rahman as one of the most exciting young composers of our time,” said Webber.
Rahman began his homework in right earnest, attending several stage productions to get a taste of what stage productions are all about. In a recent interview, when asked if he was apprehensive about the different kind of work he was embarking on, Rahman said he was not. The only difference he perceives is that this time the language is English. Otherwise, he plans to work the way he has worked all these years. “I’m not going to try something I don’t know about. The music is going to be Indian. It should be exciting,” Rahman says.
Bollywood Dreams is to be premiered sometime next April, 2002.
