Disney Aladdin: The Mumbai Debacle!
As the name well suggests.. I have never ever wanted to jump onto the blogwagon.
But after having watched Disney's Aladdin - The Mumbai chapter, I just couldn't help but write a review.
Though there are many adjectives that come to mind, the one that lingers more than any other is TACKY! Having recently watched Aladdin during my trip to SFO, I was absolutely looking forward to watching it again in Aamchi Mumbai. As much as I loved the SFO Aladdin... I detested the Mumbai Aladdin.
Adapting a story and giving it a local flavour is one thing but the Mumbai show was nothing short of blatant bastardization. The genie suddenly launched off into Hindi and from there on, it was an absolute downhill journey with the show. I am an absolute Bollywood aficionado. But when I bought tickets worth almost 4k to watch a Disney show, I definitely did not know that it was going to be a bilingual.
Cheesy Dialogues and typical Bollywood award function kind of jokes made the whole experience very crude and definitely nothing like a Broadway or West End show.
I thought it totally unfair to expats who came to watch the show, expecting a Disney product, going back with a bad mishmash of Bollywood meets Broadway kind of a show.
The magical flying carpet, Jaffar's dress change, Aladdin's singing.. nothing lived up to the aplomb and grandeur that was displayed in the version abroad. Imagine the genie singing A FRIEND LIKE ME in Hindi. That was one of the highlights in the Broadway version. With the number of times the leads went off key with their singing (especially Aladdin himself), there was no doubt that the singing was live. Of course the ensemble was recorded.
Loved Kira as Jasmine.. great stage presence, acting and singing. Despite breaking into cheesy Hindi dialogues, Mantra as the genie was great. Deven Khote as the Sultan was adorable and endearing and Iago, was fantastic..With great comic timing. I thought Jaffar (Chaturvedi) was a fine actor.. couldn't really sing, in my opinion.
Not worth wasting my time.. mentioning any of the others!!!
As someone who spends quite a bit of my earnings on travelling and watching shows abroad, Disney's Aladdin in Mumbai was for me an absolute waste of money, effort and time! In a nutshell - A Friday evening wasted!!!
But after having watched Disney's Aladdin - The Mumbai chapter, I just couldn't help but write a review.
Though there are many adjectives that come to mind, the one that lingers more than any other is TACKY! Having recently watched Aladdin during my trip to SFO, I was absolutely looking forward to watching it again in Aamchi Mumbai. As much as I loved the SFO Aladdin... I detested the Mumbai Aladdin.
Adapting a story and giving it a local flavour is one thing but the Mumbai show was nothing short of blatant bastardization. The genie suddenly launched off into Hindi and from there on, it was an absolute downhill journey with the show. I am an absolute Bollywood aficionado. But when I bought tickets worth almost 4k to watch a Disney show, I definitely did not know that it was going to be a bilingual.
Cheesy Dialogues and typical Bollywood award function kind of jokes made the whole experience very crude and definitely nothing like a Broadway or West End show.
I thought it totally unfair to expats who came to watch the show, expecting a Disney product, going back with a bad mishmash of Bollywood meets Broadway kind of a show.
The magical flying carpet, Jaffar's dress change, Aladdin's singing.. nothing lived up to the aplomb and grandeur that was displayed in the version abroad. Imagine the genie singing A FRIEND LIKE ME in Hindi. That was one of the highlights in the Broadway version. With the number of times the leads went off key with their singing (especially Aladdin himself), there was no doubt that the singing was live. Of course the ensemble was recorded.
Loved Kira as Jasmine.. great stage presence, acting and singing. Despite breaking into cheesy Hindi dialogues, Mantra as the genie was great. Deven Khote as the Sultan was adorable and endearing and Iago, was fantastic..With great comic timing. I thought Jaffar (Chaturvedi) was a fine actor.. couldn't really sing, in my opinion.
Not worth wasting my time.. mentioning any of the others!!!
As someone who spends quite a bit of my earnings on travelling and watching shows abroad, Disney's Aladdin in Mumbai was for me an absolute waste of money, effort and time! In a nutshell - A Friday evening wasted!!!
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