A light-hearted spin on Shakespearean plays has turned into a major musical, writes Subhadra Devan
SHAKESPEARE Goes Bollywood, presented by The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat and produced by Big Nose Productions, is more of a tragicomedy with song and dance.
Its director, Matthew Koh, says: “It is not a Bollywood piece in the strictest sense. The play also has more of a cosmopolitan feel to it. Well, what do you expect when you have a Chinese playwright-director and a Malay choreographer doing an Indian play?”
The choreographer is Afham Zainal Abidin, while the co-director and co-scriptwriter is Fa Abdul, Koh’s longtime collaborator.
“We took elements typical of Western plays and mixed them with various Indian storytelling traditions while taking into account the local audience’s taste,” explains Koh, 32, a teacher at an international school in Kelana Jaya.
“There are lots of Easter eggs for those who are more familiar with Shakespeare’s works; we have fused some of his more famous plots into one seamless story.
“Sonnet 18, familiar to students who sat for the literature component of SPM English, would be featured quite a lot in the play.”
Koh, who will soon be pursuing a postgraduate degree in education, cut his teeth in the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s Short Sweet productions.
“I get to create the circumstance in which the minds of my audience wander, capturing their attention and suspending their disbelief. Their response is my payoff,” he says.
“Movies do the same thing, but the experience is different. Theatre is more hands-on. The audience is part of the realm in which these characters exist, making the experience more authentic and the elements more present.”
Koh thinks musicals give an additional tool to convey a message which may not be as effective if delivered in prose.
“I have a particular interest in Bollywood pieces. I like it for its dream-like quality and its out-of-this- world, often extravagant and over exaggerated ways.”
Shakespeare Goes Bollywood is about 13-year-old Savitri who meets Chachaji, a wandering storyteller who trades stories for rupees. Through Chachaji’s narration, Savitri is transported to the holy city of Varanasi during the last days of the Delhi Sultanate to witness a tale of inter-religious love.
There is also the ill-fated love affair between Raghuman, son of a goat herder and Jyothilakshmi, daughter of a money lender, a manipulative Kapulasundaraja, his greedy daughters and a revenge-driven saga of an orphaned boy, Bilal.
NEWBIES IN THE CAST
Bilal is played by Suhunaraj Shanmugam, 38, a lawyer.
“Bilal/Walid is an orphan and roams around the city. He survives by telling stories. One day he meets someone special and his purpose in life changes after that. As this is Bollywood, some areas in acting need to be over the top. So there is one scene where I try to do something that’s not me at all,” he says.
Suhunaraj, or Suhu to his friends, is a Bukit Mertajam native who grew up in Sungai Petani, Kedah. Now residing in Klang with his family, he says being a lawyer and now, a theatre newbie, calls for confidence and being convincing.
“As a lawyer, you need to convince clients to trust you. In the play, you have to convince the audience that you are the character that you play.
“At some point, I had this thought ‘Do I really want to do this?’. But I must thank Koh and his team as well as fellow actors and actresses who have made it very comfortable and possible.”
Suhu gets to dance to two songs in the musical. “It’s more like a dance act in another. It’s tiring! So that would answer how good I am at dancing. But I enjoy it. I managed to lose some weight in the process.”
Another newbie is lawyer and beauty queen Sangheetaa Phar, 28, who won the 2013 Miss Malaysia Indian Global. The Kemaman-born Sangheetaa is trained in classical dance, including kuchipudi and bharatnatyam. She also plays the saxophone and piano.
Cast in the lead role Jyothilakshmi (Jyothi), Sangheetaa says she “absolutely loves acting!” She explains that her character is an Indian version of Juliet (of Romeo & Juliet fame).
“Like Juliet, Jyothi is a dazzling emblem of youthful love. She is naive and innocent in the beginning. She has always loved, obeyed and honoured her father. However, she evolves into a passionate woman in love, impetuous and willing to risk the honour of her family for love. The evolution of the character is perhaps the toughest part of embodying Jyothi.”
Sangeethaa says the experience of dancing in Shakespeare Goes Bollywood has been “quite unique” as the choreography has been given “a modern interpretation and is an infusion of strong contemporary dance elements to some classic Bollywood numbers”.
Actors and lawyers, she says, are both “professional communicators”.
“The practical skills and knowledge required to work in the field of acting is akin to the sound knowledge, research, skills and practice required for the practical application of the law,” she adds.
Others in the play are Lavinya Kalai Chelvan, Mithran Balakrishnan, Narinder Kaur, Tilottama Pillai and Abigail Sharmini Abisegam.
DIRECTOR’S ANGST
With veterans and newbies, Koh has his hands full. “It was a bit unnerving at first working with a big name like Chacko Vadaketh (who plays the pivotal Chachaji).
“In the early days ofrehearsals, I kept asking, ‘Do I know what I am doing? Okay, just don’t look stupid in front of him’. But Chacko turned out to be an amazing person to work with. He was ever ready to offer advice when asked, and never once did I feel that I was subordinated.
“He reminds me of an interview I once heard, of a young Bollywood director who worked with legendary Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar who, despite her years of experience in the industry, told the fresh-faced director to scold her if she did anything wrong. Well, the opportunity to ‘scold’ Chacko has not come; he is such a team player.
“At first, I thought working with new talents would be a challenge, as those we have taken on are not theatre-trained. But now I realise that the good thing about new talents is that they have not been moulded to follow a specific way of doing things. This gives me the opportunity to explore more possibilities and bring new perspectives into the play. Many are in for the passion, and I believe that is the most important ingredient in any production.”
Will the mixed bag of Shakespeare and Bollywood work? Maybe it is time to let your hair down with a good dose of Bollywood drama, music and dance.
Shakespeare Goes Bollywood
Where: Pentas 1, KLPaC, Sentul, KL
When: Today till Saturday (8.30pm); Sunday (3pm)
Tickets: RM35 and RM45
Call 03-4047 9000 or visit www.klpac.org