©Richard Lakos
Confession time: I’ve never seen a Bollywood movie and know very little about the genre apart from a few basic facts that everyone knows. Frankie Goes to Bollywood provides an insight into this cultural phenomenon, and as such, is undoubtedly a fascinating experience. I do know that Bollywood movies are sold as a vision of dreams, a melting pot of glamour, and that nearly all are variations on the same theme – a love story of improbable, nay fantastic, proportions. Bollywood takes elaborate musical and visual themes to entrance its audience for several hours; and above all it creates legends, and its stars are like royalty.
©Richard Lakos
Who wouldn’t want to be part of it? Frankie, and her best friend (and cousin/sister) Goldy, dream of making the big time somehow, rather than just selling popcorn at the local cinema in Huddersfield. Goldy wants to be in a Bollywood movie, but it’s Frankie who is – almost by accident – propelled into the limelight after a chance encounter with a movie director, a glitteringly successful audition, and an offer to be a big star in Mumbai. In many respects, a typical rags to riches storyline, that’s probably featured in many a Bollywood movie.
©Richard Lakos
But Frankie is a realist, and although she dreams big, she’s just an ordinary young woman, with no pretence, no arrogance, and a heart of gold. Can she keep it real under the pressures of Bollywood life, or will she succumb to the flashy lifestyle and hardnosed ruthlessness of the film industry? You can probably guess the answer to that. But – spoiler alert – like all good Indian fairytales, everything comes good in the end.
©Richard Lakos
What Frankie Goes to Bollywood does very successfully is reveal the sham behind the façade of the Bollywood industry. The sexy male star, with whom the audience either wants to be in love or simply to be, is in real life an aging Baldilocks with a Mummy complex. Bollywood is a conveyor belt that pushes out endless dreams but is super ruthless with every element – including its stars – in the process. Whoever has the finance is the king and calls the shots; no other input is of any consequence. It’s a grim place where you can arrange for your rival actor to be on the receiving end of a fatal car accident. You lose your identity as you sell your soul, and it’s all in the name of light entertainment.
©Richard Lakos
The show also highlights the essential misogyny of the whole Bollywood industry. The women, on and off screen, are there to look good and to make the men look even better. What they think doesn’t matter, and any additional contributions they make are ignored. As a natural consequence, Frankie and the other women are frustrated and feel abused by the whole circus. The show culminates not so much with a natural conclusion to its storyline but more of a mission statement for the future.
©Richard Lakos
Clearly, there’s no depth or meaning to your average Bollywood movie, and it’s this essential shallowness that is the problem with Frankie Goes to Bollywood. The system produces a never-ending sequence of shallow stories with shallow characters, and FGTB comes across as equally shallow. There’s a fine line between exposing its subject matter and resembling its subject matter, and the show doesn’t always get that balance right. They’re clearly a hugely talented cast but somehow it radiates an amateur vibe; revealing all Bollywood’s unsubtleties, not in a tongue-in-cheek or knowing way, but itself in an unsubtle way. The staging is frequently clumsy; for example, how many times do they have to (unnecessarily) move those spotlights around?! Often leaving uncomfortable gaps between scenes, it needs to be smarter and slicker. Occasional looks of uncertainty on the faces of some of the dancers suggest they’re a little unsure about where to stand or move, but that could also be because the stage of the Royal theatre is way too small to accommodate everything that this show is trying to achieve. I’m sure it would look more accomplished on a larger stage.
©Richard Lakos
That said, there is much to be appreciated in the vision and creativity of this production. Josh Sood’s musicians give us a gloriously authentic Indian music experience, Andy Kumar’s choreography – with Anna Maria Barber as assistant choreographer and dance captain – is bang on the nose and his costumes are as sumptuous as you would wish, and Philip Gladwell’s lighting is often set to brash mode, although there were a few moments on Press Night when gremlins got in the works.
©Richard Lakos
The acting is of a very high standard. Sarah Pearson gives a great central performance as Frankie; she’s a tremendous singer with a winning stage persona. I wasn’t totally convinced of how Frankie loses her kindness and charity as her fame grows, but I think that’s more a failure of the script than the performance. I particularly enjoyed Katie Stasi’s Goldy, a warm-hearted and spirited young woman, not afraid to fail and always remaining faithful to her friend – and also with a great singing voice. Luke Suri, as flamboyant choreographer Shona, steals all his scenes with his camp charisma and wittily written bitchiness. Ankur Sabharwal amusingly portrays the spoilt vanity of the star Raju, and Meher Pavri captures the resentment of star-and-girlfriend-on-the-decline Malika, and the pure love and support given by Frankie’s mother.
©Richard Lakos
Akshay Datta’s surprisingly gentle characterisation of the principled film director Prem makes a slightly curious comparison with the rest of the Bollywood rat race, giving all his dreams up to become a guru. There’s excellent support from Neelam Rajni as Frankie’s assistant Mandy, and a very hard-working ensemble including an entertaining portrayal of Timmy Anand by Kiran Kaanan, all himbo, glittery chest and not much up top.
One of those shows where it doesn’t quite add up to the sum of all its parts, which must be due to the writing and direction. However, there’s no doubt that it’s a lively, colourful and musical spectacle that tackles an uncomfortable problem at the heart of Indian culture. After Northampton, the tour continues to Leeds, Peterborough, Derby, Windsor, Hornchurch, Oxford, Birmingham and finishing at the Bristol Old Vic at the end of June.
Three-sy Does It!