Bolly Good Time

Comments (0) By Bob Ruggiero Thursday, May 18 2006

Which country leads the motion picture industry in terms of both number of films produced each year and tickets sold? If you answered the United States, for shame! It's the Hindi language-based dream factory centered in India's bustling city of Bombay, a.k.a. Bollywood. Bollywood films often combine many different genres (comedy, drama, romance, action) and are wrapped in an easily digestible boy-girl story with frothy pop tunes, dancing, dazzlingly colorful costumes and surprisingly little skin. The creative town and its culture are brought to life in the recent hit musical Bombay Dreams.

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The show -- making its Houston premiere under the auspices of Theatre Under the Stars -- tells the story of a young man who is handsome but poor and dreams of fame and romance in Bollywood. When he meets the fetching daughter of one of the industry's most famous directors, you can be sure the encounter spawns more romantic ups and downs than an entire season of Friends. The music by A.R. Rahman is brought to life in this production by Dave Sharma, an in-demand New York DJ-percussionist-producer who also performed with the original Broadway cast. If your exposure to Indian culture is limited to Apu on The Simpsons, this bouncy romance is worth the trip.
May 24-June 4, 8 p.m.