Big-hearted: Rifco Arts’s Britain’s Got Bhangra is full of energy

Theatre Review Britain’s Got Bhangra

Fusion Triumph is at Number 1

British theatre and Indian music have fused to increasingly fruitful effect over the years, from savvy independent companies to the 2002 Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced extravaganza Bombay Dreams. Britain’s Got Bhangra is the latest production from British Asian collective Rifco Arts and it feels like a benchmark: a timely, big-hearted celebration of a British pop-culture scene that stems from folk roots and incorporates everything from synth-pop to hip hop.

The story might start out in rural Punjab – where romantic lead Twinkle (bhangra vocalist Shin, who made his name in 1980s outfit Desi Culture Shock) woos his bride Jussi (Natasha Lewis) – but it swiftly relocates to late-1970s Southall, as

Twinkle sets out to make his fortune, sweetly oblivious to the era’s racial tension (‘I’ve just got here and already I have to go back?’). As the years pass, Twinkle’s musical talents are seized upon by fierce businesswoman/diva Shindie (a wonderful Sophiya Haque) and bhangra music becomes top of the pops – or it would be, if its massive sales qualified for the mainstream charts.

The fantastically appealing multitasking ensemble summon the energy of a much bigger cast, delivering Bollywood choreographer Andy Kumar’s dance moves and Sumeet Chopra’s vivacious dhol-driven score with gusto; Rina Fatania particularly impresses as the feisty spirit of Twinkle’s beloved matriarch Bibiji.

This production has the same West End crossover potential as an earlier Stratford East triumph, The Big Life, but it really should be relished right now, at this brilliant London institution. As the show proudly points out, Britain’s Got Bhangra – and it has had for 30 years. Here’s to many decades more.

Arwa Haider

View the article here: http://e-edition.metro.co.uk/2010/05/06/?p=42

The history of bhangra music in the UK is related in tandem with the rise and fall of one of its fictional stars. Pravesh Kumar, Sumeet Chopra and Dougal Irvine’s new musical is a near perfect amalgam of traditional musical theatre and Bollywood. The excellent libretto offers us a selection of recognisable characters and broad redemption themes, matched with an evocative score. You certainly don’t need to be a fan of the infectious bhangra as the creators satirise and praise the music and lifestyle in equal measure.

There is a wonderful ensemble cast at work here, led by Shin as Twinkle, the boy from the Punjab who travels Southall in search of his fortune. Shin has a strong voice as well as an emotional attachment to the music – he was a founding member of one of the leading bhangra bands in the UK, DCS – that lends credibility to this less than perfect hero. Every hero needs his nemesis and Twinkle’s is Southall impresario Shinde, played by Sophiya Haque. A woman thwarted in love, Shinde is a godsend of a role to play and Haque fulfils the brief exquisitely. Supporting roles such as Jussi played by Natasha Lewis, the excellent Arun Blair-Mangat as Jason and Sunil Pramanik as the musician Rocky flesh out the emotional content, while Rakesh Boury, Rina Fatania and the rest of the ensemble fill the stage with an array of colourful, comic characters.

Judicious editing could shave 15 minutes off the running time, but this would be nit-picking, as Pravesh Kumar’s direction ensures the pace never falters. Stratford East is an ideal venue for this show, but judging purely by the enjoyment factor, there is absolutely no reason why it couldn’t triumph in the West End after its tour.

To see this review, click here: http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/28040/britains-got-bhangra

**** 4 STARS!

Genuinely new musicals are so rare these days that I rushed to the premiere of this celebration of bhangra: a form that, deriving from Punjabi dance, has now been fused with rap, reggae and much else to achieve chart success. Even if the book needs some tweaking, Sumeet Chopra’s score is a delight that brings the audience to its feet and introduces a new sound into the stale world of the British musical.

Conceived, written and directed by Pravesh Kumar, the show follows the fortunes of Indian immigrant Twinkle in the changing Britain of the past 30 years. Starting out as a Southall bus driver in the chill Thatcherite era, Twinkle soon turns into a little star with his singing at local weddings. He and his musical mate Rocky are snapped up by a producer, Mrs Shindie, who realises that bhangra means big bucks. But Twinkle’s fortunes fade as Rocky dies, he is ripped off by his producer and his songs remixed by a loutish DJ. This being a musical, however, everything has a happy, fairytale ending.

More could have been made of the shifting British backdrop, and the second half, in which a teenage boy comes in search of his missing father, has a derivative feel. But the score, ranging from traditional bhangra to Bollywood and hip-hop, is dance-based, energising and mercifully free of the soulful wailing of so much western pop. It is also smartly executed and vividly performed by the on-stage band, making use of the dhol drums (while lifting you out of them). The lean and wiry Shin, a longtime bhangra star, shines as Twinkle, and there is strong support from Sophiya Haque as the ruthless Shindie, and from Rina Fatania as Twinkle’s mum. Not for the first time, Stratford East has given the British musical the kind of blood transfusion it urgently needs.

Until 16 May. Box office: 020-8534 0310. Then touring.

To see this review, click here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/apr/29/britains-got-bhangra-review

BRITAIN may well have Bhangra, but I’m sorry to say I’d barely heard of it before this show.

As it turns out, my ignorance was certainly not bliss. Based on this musical journey through the history of British bhangra, I’ve missed out.

Infectious, heartfelt, colourful and full of energy – this is music that is impossible not to enjoy.

Britain’s Got Bhangra was the perfect vehicle to showcase it to newcomers and send fans on a reminiscing journey of re-discovery.

Twinkle (played by real-life bhangra star Shin) was the orphan boy who left India for England in the late-1970s, only to find the ‘golden’ streets he’d dreamed of were simply filled with puddles from the rain.

He found his niche through music and the burgeoning sounds of bhangra.

Soon his local community was won over and it wasn’t long before his band was touring Britain and enjoying the riches of success – riches that inevitably wouldn’t last.

If I was to be churlish (which I am), I’d suggest the story was largely predictable, the acting occasionally hammy and it felt a little like a panto.

But you’d need a heart of stone to walk away from Britain’s Got Bhangra without a smile and practising your dance moves long into the night.

The quality of songs, some in Punjabi and some in English, was consistently brilliant, with Shin an absolute revelation in his stage debut. It felt like a labour of love for him and that passion for the music really came across.

The show was funny and satirical, the costumes were marvellous, the choreography inventive. I loved the cameos from an Indian radio reporter, DJ and Twinkle’s mum – played by the fabulous Rina Fatania.

The show’s on until May 16 – don’t miss out on this joyful celebration of musical genre that deserves its place in the mainstream.

The review can be viewed here: http://www.docklands24.co.uk/content/docklands/news/story.aspx?brand=Docklands&category=news&tBrand=docklands&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED29%20Apr%202010%2010:54:30:960