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Bombay Dreams is 'divine mercy'
Tickets for the London musical unavailable, Madonna eyes the cast album
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Arthur J Pais
Ayesha Dharker's sizzling Shakalaka baby is the first show-stopper in the London sensation, Bombay Dreams. But in the cast album released recently, it is the show's lead player Preeya Kalidas who sings it, along with her counterpart Raza Jaffrey.
"We needed a single for the album and it was recorded in Preeya and Raza's voices," composer A R Rahman told Rediff.com. "The song was fitted in the script later."
He had no hesitation in declaring why Ayesha was not featured: "Ayesha is a fantastic actress who cannot sing!"
The musical is directed by London's well-known Steven Pimlott, and is choreographed by Farah Khan along with Anthony van Laast.
Rahman readily admits that despite Andrew Lloyd Webber's faith in him, he was bugged by uncertainties till the show premiered June 19, and every major broadsheet and tabloid praised the score and choreography much more than anything else.
Rahman said Andrew Lloyd Webber, who has written the music for and produced such gigantic hits as Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Starlight Express and Phantom Of The Opera, kept assuring him that British listeners and critics would accept his work.
"Life is unpredictable," Lloyd Webber explained his fear "So are the listeners." But though the musical is promoted as A R Rahman's show, he said everyone knows that "it is the work of an intelligent team. So the credits are shared... it's not 'only me' "
"I am glad the show is a hit and tickets are unavailable (for most performances)," he continued. "It is divine mercy
considering the two-and-half years I have spent on it."
There are whispers that some of the big names in music world including Madonna are eager to record the songs from Bombay Dreams. "We do not know yet," Lloyd Webber said, using the show's tagline 'Anything is possible in Bombay Dreams.'
Since many of the now famous songs in the show are reworked from his Tamil and Hindi songs, what would prompt people in India to buy the cast album? "Indian listeners are very curious about the album," Rahman said. "So far I have been getting very positive feedback .They like the qawwali (in Sukhvinder Singh's voice), the overture Contradictions and Journey home a lot."
His prolonged stay in England did not mean he did not work for Hindi and Tamil films, he said. "Apart from The Legend of Bhagat Singh, I recorded music for M F Husain's film and Tamil films like Baba and Kadal Virus," he said. He also worked on couple of songs for the Hindi and English version of Taj Mahal.
We have recorded a couple of songs --- one written by Don Black (Oscar-winner who wrote the lyrics for Bombay Dreams) and one written by Javed Akhtar. These are rough versions."
As plans are being mounted to bring Bombay Dreams to Broadway, are there suggestions that he might write a few more songs? Or is it going to come to Broadway with all the songs found in the original version? "We don't know yet!" he said. "The present version has stabilised a lot."
He is not sure what his next project in England or America would be. Some Hollywood producers have surely contacted him to write theme songs for their movies. There could also be a non-film album. It is not easy for him to decide on his next project, he said.
Earlier, he had said that while in India, he worked a lot on impulse, he had to be very careful in the West because the logistics there were very different.
Now that the cast album is out in England and India, would America have to wait for one in the near future. Or would it happen only when the show arrives on Broadway, may be after a year?
"Yeah," he said. "I think it will be worth the wait."