Britain’s got Bhangra – Metro Review 5 STARS!*****

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

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