The second edition of India by the Nile kicked off on 1 April. The opening performance, Bollywood Love Story: A Musical, took the stage of the Cairo Opera House's Main Hall between 3 and 6 April. On 10 and 11 April the same show will be performed at the Alexandria Opera House and on 15 April it will reach Sahl Hasheesh, south of Hurghada. Launched last year, India by the Nile is a multidisciplinary festival that aims to bring the Indian arts to the Egyptian audience through activities that range from classical dance, Indian music, exhibitions to film screenings, discussions between Indian and Egyptian literary figures and Indian food tasting. Organised as a collaboration between Teamwork, the Embassy of India, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and the Cairo Opera House, the festival aims at reaching as wide a variety of tastes as possible, satisfying the expectations of film and music lovers and presenting some of the cultural gems that emerge from different regions of this fascinating country. Of course, no Indian festival would be complete without a programme dedicated to Bollywood, which over decades has become an internationally recognised definition of India, with the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry producing 1,000 films annually on average — not only a worldwide audience magnet but also a haven for Indian producers, actors, singers and songwriters — indeed, an empire that has sustained itself through imagination and colour, exciting themes and exotic setting, as well as very powerful marketing. Yet, most importantly, Bollywood owes its success to a creative language that manages to cross geographical borders. In this context it makes sense for Teamwork to look at on-stage reincarnations of Bollywood as well as film screenings (the latter being an important pillar of this year's festival). Last year, India by the Nile's inaugural edition kicked off with Bollywood Fusion, a music and dance show on which artists from Egypt collaborated and the India-based French choreographer Gilles Chuyen worked with soloists from the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. This year Bollywood returns with a much bigger and more ambitious project, a musical featuring 35 Indian dancers performing to Indian film music. Relying completely on Indian artists, the show infuses the stage with an authentic image of the kind of Bollywood art followed by viewers around the globe including a large fan database in Egypt. Evidence for that includes the large audience that flocked to the Cairo Opera House on the nights in question. “Vibrant, brilliant, enthusiastic and full of life! Enjoyed every second of it,” Twitter comments read following the show. “Very cheerful music, colourful costumes, lovely dances, and great presentation.” Produced by Sharupa Dutta with choreography by Gilles Chuyen, the Bollywood Love Story is directed by Sanjoy Roy who is also heading Teamworks, a versatile production house founded in 1989 and bringing music, films and cultural panels to audiences in India and internationally through festivals and individual shows. According to Roy, the musical performed during India by the Nile 2014, was created four years ago for commercial purposes, and since then it has toured all across the globe, visiting Russia, Austria, Spain, South Africa, China, Japan, among other countries. “Bollywood Love Story is a very expensive production and since it needs approximately 30 shows to meet its costs, usually we do not take it to the festivals,” Roy revealed. With nine shows taking place in Egypt, as part of the festival, the audiences are definitely receiving special treatment. Bollywood Love Story's dramaturgical line is, as expected, very simple; it presents two protagonists in love whose happiness is obstructed by a villain. As the narrator walks us through the scenes, we eventually reach a very predictable happy ending. But as is always the case in commercial stage productions, the role of the simple – and at times naive – storyline is limited to providing a backbone for the extravaganza expressed through dance, with well-designed choreography and vibrant costumes. Performed using few props, the musical relies on music, dance and costumes, but it is the group scenes with their impressive synchronisation of movement that are the highlight of the show. The abundance and duration of such group scenes helps one forget less appealing scenes between individual characters whose acting skills leave a lot to be desired. To fuse the sequence more effectively, Roy introduced a narrator played by Wolfram Kramer, who proved to be the only actor on the theatre stage. The character played by Kramer is a very convincing classical storyteller, inviting the audience to listen to this old man who projects experience and trust. The storyteller introduced the audience to the events, scattering some Arabic sentences into his English language narration, which is always well received by the viewers. It was also the narrator who addressed the viewers, asked the audience questions and actively engaged the spectators in the performance, and through this Roy managed to create a closer link between Bollywood culture and Egyptians. The imaginative story of Rahul and Priya becomes an excuse to indulge in a journey through the iconic works of the Bollywood and the songs from its well-known movies. Among these are “Dhadak Dhadak” from the 2005 crime-comedy Bunty Aur Babli, “Namak Ishq ka'” from Omkara, the 2006 multi-award winning crime drama adapted from Shakespeare's Othello, “Saanson Ko Saanson” from Hum Tum (Me and You), a 2004 romantic comedy, along with songs from the highest grossing movies in India such as Don: The Chase Begins Again (2006) etc. As the sound fills the stage, we recognise typical Bollywood music and its dynamic rhythmic patterns, where many Western styles are fused with India's traditional beats. The songs borrow not only from pop and 1970's disco but equally from many Indian and international music genres: Latin music, rock and roll, electronic; there is even hint on tango. And while the festive atmosphere fills the hall, five traditional Indian musicians remain on the stage throughout the whole show adding some droning instruments along with the sound of the kamaicha (the bowed musical instrument), and several small percussion instruments, mainly idiophones such as Indian khurtals (resembling the better-known castanets). With this fusion of dance, colour and music, Bollywood Love Story ends up being a treat for eyes and ears. Bollywood Love Story is one of the first artistic activities in this year's India by the Nile. The festival, running until 20 April, features a Kathak dance recital by Marami Medhi, an exhibition of Saris, captivating political cartoons by Sudhir Tailang (an interview with whom was published in Al Ahram Weekly's Issue No.1182, on 30 January, 2014 ), an Indian Kettle Drums workshop, an Indian Film Panorama and meetings with Indian arts and literary figures, among many other activities.
