Kingdom of Dreams finds its brand ambassador in Shah Rukh Khan
The recently launched Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon's Sector 29, said to be India's first live entertainment and leisure destination, has found its brand ambassador in Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. At an event recently, the promoters of Kingdom of Dreams ' Anumod Sharma, Chairman, Apra Group of Companies, and Viraf Sarkari, Andre Timmins and Sabbas Joseph, directors of Wizcraft International Entertainment, declared him the ambassador at an event to play a key role in its brand and product communication. The Kingdom of Dreams has planned an aggressive multi-media campaign covering television, radio, outdoor, cinema, and Internet which will be supplemented by strategic campaigns across international markets and Khan will have a role to play in the campaign.
Speaking on the occasion, Viraf Sarkari said, "Having Shah Rukh Khan associated with our dream project ensures that indeed the king has come to his rightful kingdom." The occasion also saw the premiere of the Bollywood musical "Zangoora ' The Gypsy Prince." The theatrical extravaganza had guests in raptures with the production featuring actor Hussain Kuwajarewala, Gauhar Khan and Kashmira Irani. The stellar performance by the cast set the stage on fire while showcasing the energy and drama of the play. An excited Sarkari said, "Zangoora marks only the beginning of our journey, slowly redefining the landscape of entertainment in India."
Khan, talking on the occasion, called the Kingdom of Dreams "reflective of India, its rich culture and seamless heritage." He said, "I am proud to promote my country, my India, through this platform." After watching "Zangoora", he commented, "It is nothing short of a magical journey encapsulating the best of Indian cinema on stage. Kingdom of Dreams is a world class experience and I am ecstatic to be a part of this incredible experience."
Spread across acres of land, Kingdom of Dreams has four distinct entertainment zones ' Culture Gully, a boulevard of Indian food, art, and culture; Nautanki Mahal, a state-of-the art 4D theatre, IIF Buzz Caf, a glamorous Indian cinema lounge and Showshaa Theatre, to present a kaleidoscope of colourful drama marquee spotlighting ancient Indian epics and mythology, mock wedding shows and the great Indian circus. The theatre is slated to open by this October.
Speaking at the event, Anumod Sharmaadded, "As we open the doors to the Kingdom of Dreams, we hope that people will experience a complete Indian experience. The treatment each guest gets here should truly make them feel like the king and queen in their own kingdom."
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article793039.eceZangoora the Gypsy Prince, not to be confused with Xena the Warrior Princess (unless we're comparing hairstyles of protagonists), the Javed Akhtar-written, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy-composed, Shiamak-Davar choreographed, big budgeted, self-declared history-creating musical, opened at the Kingdom of Dreams, last weekend.
A number of things were annoying me about it: the name Zangoora; the big-names-are-best subtext to the marketing strategy, the presumption that this was history in the making, and most importantly, the bit about it being a 'Bollywood style' musical.
I'm not sure how long I've been allergic to this concept of the Bollywood-style musical although I can safely say it was triggered off by the Sohaila Kapur-directed (and scripted ) headache masquerading as bling ' Mahim Junction (2008). Now, Mahim Junction pretty much tried to be the Om Shanti Om of the stage. With one critical difference: it was awful. I part-cringed part-cursed my way through the first half, and disappeared right after interval.
Zangoora, on the other hand, isn't something you'd abandon midway. Although I had gone in prepared to dislike it, I did feel it has elements that work for it. In fact, it's like any standard big-budget Bollywood movie. It has peppy (rehashed) songs ' pretty much every song you'd have danced to in the last shaadi you attended (and the one original song is eminently forgettable); it has great dancing. It's got strikingly beautiful sets and design (thank you Omung Kumar Bandula, not only did you teach us how to play games in one minute, you also raised the bar), it also has a hero who takes off his shirt.
But in true Bollywood style, it also has no real plot, embarrassingly bad dialogues and - with the exception of Gauhar Khan and Hussain Eight-pack-abs-wala - fairly ordinary performances. It has the quality of lulling your critical senses, by bombarding you with bling. It's all spectacle, no substance. Bollywood in its build, Bollywood in its flaws. Really, it's not even theatre. And that, perhaps, is the root cause of my gripe.
I have a problem that Bollywood - already dominant on our cultural landscapes - is poaching into other diminishing mediums. What already exists in undiluted form is now gradually being force-fed to us through other art forms. I'm scared that we're getting addicted to it to the extent that all art needs a Bollywood licence to succeed or even command an audience. We're increasingly moving into a place where we attend concerts if they have Bollywood songs/singers, or judge the merit of a play depending on how Bolly-formulaic, or star-studded it is. Which is why when India's first musical production of the same scale as the Broadway or Westend is planned, it too is set to formula. Anything else is just a huge risk.
And when a play adopts the formula, it doesn't do its own thinking, it doesn't evolve its own art. It's borrowed, and it's old. A Mahim Junction has got to fail because it has concentrated all its efforts into mimicking the Om Shanti Om formulae, not creating something new.
But perhaps I'm being too cynical, and perhaps I'm undermining the chaps at Kingdom of Dreams. Perhaps this paisa wasool entertainment is part of a larger dream that I haven't considered until now. That this act of drawing audiences to the theatre, is their way of hooking then to the medium. Perhaps the Zangoora is the nicotine patch to the Bollysmokers, and once they're de-addicted, it'll shed some of its Bolly-skin, and show its true drama self. And perhaps one day, Bollywood will be producing a Zangoora the Gypsy Prince.
New Delhi, September 27, 2010
It's party time at 92.7 BIG FM's Delhi station as it celebrates its 4th Anniversary amidst much fanfare. The station's Delhi office celebrated the occasion with pomp and grandeur as they threw a bash to mark the day.
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Also present on the occasion were Zangoora (Hussain Kuwajerwalla), his gypsy dancing partner and princess Sonali (Kashmira Irani) who performed the cake-cutting ceremony along with the staff of BIG FM. Zangoora - The Gypsy Prince is a musical jamboree staged at the recently opened Kingdom of Dreams, which is touted as India's first, unique live entertainment destination. In a mood to rejoice the occasion, the staff and stars devoured the sumptuous and mouth watering chaat.
To celebrate the 4th milestone, in the coming full week (27september to 2nd October), the Delhi station will distribute lots of gratification to its listeners. These gratifications will be gift vouchers and will be applicable across Delhi NCR and will be for various categories.
92.7 BIG FM's Delhi Radio Operation Head, Mr. Gaurav Sahai said, "We are excited that the station has successfully completed 4 years. I think it's a huge achievement for us as 92.7 BIG FM is the first radio station to spread FM across the length & breadth of the country. We hope to continue achieving such milestones in the future too. We want the station to go places and that can happen only with continued audience support.
posted by Anuj at 12:34 PM
Flamboyant Bollywood kitsch now has a new address'Gurgaon. Crisscrossing laser beams reach out nearly a kilometre before you land at the giant gates of the Kingdom of Dreams, a sprawling, six-acre complex that styles itself as a desi Disneyland. Enter to find yourself in the midst of a dazzling mishmash of styles and symbols'Rajasthani haveli meets Khajuraho-style sculpture, sleeping Buddhas meet lotus ponds and Mughal domes'and proceed to Culture Gully, a boulevard with a false ceiling that turns night into day by making you walk under a cloud-strewn blue sky in the dead of night. From this five-star Dilli Haat (cuisine from 14 states is served here), you travel through Spiritual Gully, and finally reach Nautanki Mahal, venue for the centrepiece of this surreal, opulent experience'Zangoora: The Gypsy Prince, a musical that mimics Bollywood in live 4-D.
Inside the 850-seater theatre, Zangoora, the lanky lad, played by TV star Hussain Kuwajerwala, descends as if from the skies, mounted atop a giant eagle, suspended in the air with the support of wires that loop down from the ceiling. As you watch, transfixed, he slides down to the stage to break into an energetic jig to thumping music with eighty fellow gypsies, all moving rapidly to the melody of Baawre Baawre, a recent dance number. The taalis and wolf-whistles from the obviously well-heeled, expensively dressed crowd, with a sprinkling of foreigners, become louder as the dancers break into sassy renderings, remixed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, of Choli ke peeche kya hai and Beedi jalaile and the retro 'gypsy' hit, Mehbooba mehbooba, all choreographed by Shiamak Davar and Glen D'Mello.
Energy Surplus: The Nautanki Mahal, the venue for the musical
A show like this obviously doesn't rely too heavily on its actors; it's the nameless, faceless dancers that take the drama forward, literally in leaps and bounds. As for the story, Javed Akhtar's authorship of it notwithstanding, it's just another run-of-the-mill, textureless, good-wins-over-evil plot. What provides the sparkle in this Rs 25-crore production are the imaginative, extravagant costumes by Neeta Lulla and the breathtaking special effects. Defending the wafer-thin plot, Zangoora's director and co-producer Viraf Sarkari of Wizcraft Entertainment says, "It is the first production, and, therefore, we have consciously focused on a simple yet thrilling storyline. This has given us a platform to experiment with the technology of theatre."
| Laachi, the gypsy girl in Zangoora |
Bombay's cinema has inspired big stage shows before, for instance Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Bombay Dreams, which opened in London in 2002, fusing western melodies with Bollywood sound. In recent years, Neemrana Music Foundation's production of If I Were King also attempted a larger-than-life Bollywood imagery, fusing it with traditional opera. However, Kingdom of Dreams takes it all to a grander, more opulent level, and prefers to keep its offering exclusively Bollywood. Enthuses Sarkari, "Today, the world over there is a craze for Bollywood, people in the West are learning Bollywood dances to perform at their weddings. Zangoora is all about the unique Bollywood style of storytelling and popular dancing."
What's clearly on offer here is a new venue for the multiplex class, eager for varied forms of popular entertainment, with enough disposable income to snap up tickets priced at Rs 1,000-6,000, and some to spare for a drink or two at the well-stocked bar on the premises or the offerings at Culture Gully. It has won itself some fans. Says Random House editor-in-chief Chiki Sarkar, who was in the audience recently, "I haven't seen anything like this on stage in India. In terms of its slickness, ambition and scale, it's certainly comparable to an international musical production." The organisers, Wizcraft and the Apra group, claim many others are lapping up the experience. Says Sarkari: "Our customers are diverse, from foreign and domestic tourists to regular Delhi ncr residents and big corporates who want to host a fun evening." An old kind of fun in a glittering, opulent new bottle.
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?267305Zangoora: The Gypsy Prince has all the makings of a kitschy soap opera.
A newborn prince is dumped among the banjaras, an evil sorcerer plots against the king and queen, a beautiful princess meets a feisty gypsy girl, good and evil clash amid treachery and counter-ploys and a few minutes before the curtain falls, the prince fulfills his destiny of wearing the royal crown. With all the makings of a kitschy soap opera, the play Zangoora: The Gypsy Prince, set in the fictitious kingdom of Shaktishila, recently opened at Nautanki Mahal, the new theatre at Kingdom of Dreams, a culture destination in Gurgaon.
Wizcraft director
Viraf Sarkari, who operates Kingdom of Dreams and has co-produced
Zangoora, resorts to superlatives while talking about both, the theatre
and the musical. "With aerial flying sequences, special effects, digital
Surround Sound, lights and 3D video projections on each side of the
stage, we have created something better than what Broadway and West-End
has on offer," he says.
The musical flirts with different genres of romance, action, drama and thriller, and boasts of several big names. Lyricist Javed Akhtar has written the story, Shiamak Davar is credited with the choreography and the cast includes 24 performers from TV and stage like Hussain Kuwajerwala, Isha Sharvani and Gauhar Khan. British artistic director David Freeman, a veteran of London's West-End productions, has come on board as co-director. Neeta Lulla of Devdas and Jodhaa Akbar fame is responsible for the garish costumes.
Fittingly, Shah Rukh Khan was recently announced its brand ambassador. Film numbers like Pehla nasha, Khuda jaane and Chand taaren tod laoon have been tweaked and woven by composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy into the narrative to make the two hours 15 minute musical look like a film on stage.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Bollywood-on-STAGE/689519/
Live entertainment in India reaches a new scale with the Rs 25-cr production, Zangoora - a two-hour, larger-than-life experience full of opulence and drama.
A luxurious palatial
arena, complete with ornate carvings and pristine royal interiors'that
is Nautanki Mahal at the aspiring entertainment hub of NCR, Kingdom of
Dreams, in Gurgaon. This 'four-dimensional' performance theatre opened
with the Rs 25-crore production, Zangoora-The Gypsy Prince, with its
embellished posters declaring it to be 'the biggest Bollywood musical
ever'. Extravagant it surely is, with a larger-than-life feel and
expression, special effects that make the presentation quite
unbelievable, knock-out choreography and shimmering costumes straight
out of the most expensive of Bollywood fantasies. Watching it also comes
at a princely price of Rs 1,000-6,000. And as Zangoora progresses, it
treads on all territories by being unbelievable, predictable, opulent,
clichd, yet enjoyable at the same time.
If one scans through the list of
personalities associated with the production, unprecedented is the word.
Story by Javed Akhtar, music by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, choreography
by Shiamak Davar and Glen D'Mello, costumes by Neeta Lulla, art
direction by Omung Kumar, and a cast that boasts of starlets Gauhar Khan
and Kashmira Irani, and TV actor and anchor Hussain Kuwajerwala in the
lead roles. And bringing all of them together, Wizcraft and Apra.
Talking of the 4-D theatre, it has layered projection screens not only
in the backdrop of the stage, but also on both side-walls of the
auditorium, in an attempt to make the audience a part of the scene. One
can't help but look up and wonder why the ceiling is so high above, with
stands, lights trolleys hanging, akin to a television or a movie set,
as things are supposed to happen on the stage, right? Wrong. Wait until
you witness the lead actors making their grand entry flying over an
eagle or through a boat that floats over the heads of the audiences, or
the streamers that are sprayed all over the place during the grandiose
sign-off. And often, the dancers and the performers would fill the
aisles between the supremely comfortable seats to dance with much gusto.
So this is what the whole 4-D fuss is all about, one wonders.
But as you are taken further through the two-hour musical, it becomes highly predictable, with just the acrobatics of the flying performers, energetic song and dance sequences and breathtaking sets providing some highs. The story in itself is quite insubstantial, with a clichd storyline. A popular king, his jealous general, a political conspiracy that results in the murder of the king and queen; their infant son, thereafter raised by a gypsy couple, grows up to be a magician and performer, a stereotypical banjara named Zangoora, played by Hussain.
And it doesn't end
there. In truly filmy ways, he falls in love with a princess, while his
childhood friend, who longs for him, nurses a broken heart, but still
hangs on to their precious friendship. Zangoora then stumbles upon the
fact that he is not a street performer gypsy, but a prince, and
eventually sets upon the task of overthrowing the evil general and
reclaiming his place on the throne of the fictional kingdom of
Shaktishila. The story unfolds with blockbuster Hindi film songs, mostly
glamourous dance numbers. And that perhaps is the only high point as
far as the the performance is concerned. Choreography wins hands down,
as extremely clichd dialogues, slapstick humour and story take their
toll. One just can't help but notice Gauhar's dancing prowess, as she
steals the thunder from those around her. Even Hussain, an acclaimed
dancer himself, is no match for her.
But maybe it was supposed to be like
that. More performance and less of content. Full of larger-than-life
sequences and less of a story. They had to be different to justify the
promise of novelty, the promise of grandeur, luxury and justify its
premium costs. Treading on pillars of a clichd yet successful Bollywood
formula and blockbuster Hindi songs also places the production in the
safe zone, to guarantee audience's acceptance. And talking of songs,
while there was everything in it from Beedi jalaile to Choli ke peeche,
and from Helen's Mehbooba number from Sholay, to Laila main laila, the
musical's title-track Zangoora zangoora was a fast-beat composition
catching one's attention, and in a good way. However, with music
directors of great calibre associated with the production, it was quite a
let down that all they ended up doing was just one new song, while only
rearranging music of the old hits.
Viraf Sarkari, director, Wizcraft, and also the executive creative director and producer of this production, wears Zangoora proudly on his sleeve. He compares it to nothing less than Broadway and West End, while David Frieman, supervising director, draws a close comparison to Mamma Mia, owing to the already famous music being used. Sarkari wants to develop Nautanki Mahal as the 'multiplex of live entertainment', and justifies the ticket costs, which most would believe place it beyond the reach of the common man. "This is an extremely expensive production and has cost more than a regular B movie. And then, we are offering a quality entertainment product that is right up there with the best in the world, if not better. Even if you go to watch Broadway, it would cost you 60 pounds per ticket," he says. He refrains from commenting on how long will this production continue, and says he will run it for as long as possible.
While comparisons to
Broadway and West End might be rushed, the production seems to be
targeting foreign tourists and the growing population of expats in
India's corporate circles, apart from the obvious and expanding class of
Indian elites. The cost, location, a story that is dripping with the
exotic' something that has been tagged to India's image abroad'and, of
course, the timing of the opening, just days before the Commonwealth
Games, are hard to miss. And whether Zangoora translates into the advent
of a 'popular theatre' culture and 4-D performance theatres in the
country will only be a derivative of time. If your purse allows, you may
drop in for the larger-than-life entertainment experience, which just
might not be limited to the stage, while content curls up playing second
fiddle to the extravagance, maybe sacrificed for the security and
comfort of popularity. Zangoora-The Gypsy Prince is still worth the
experience, though a little more experiment with the script and the
story could have done it a world of good.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/blinding-extravagance/696516/3
