Customer Reviews

Salaam "Bombay Dreams"

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The main feature here is a 90-minute look at the origins of the musical, "Bombay Dreams," and work leading up to its finished production. Among the highlights are hearing to hear how producer Andrew Lloyd Webber came upon the idea, watching A.R. Rahman improvise during recordings (to the distress of his English counterpart in the sessions) and discuss his work, the remarks of the English choreographers to the background, habits and conditions of the Indian dancers (esp. working on concrete floors), and the on-the-fly adjustments made by the director as the musical is rehearsed on the stage.

The disc is filled with extras: a ton of interview footage, another featurette on the production, a look at the preparation of a performance for the Queen of England, four songs from the actual performance, and two promotional videos. You'll only wish there were more songs included, but that doesn't take anything away from what's here.

Recommended to fans of the show, of course, but also to anyone who is tempted to explore the Bollywood scene. I only had a couple Bollywood DVDs prior to watching this, but I have since ordered more and cannot wait to watch TAAL and others.

This was not a DVD of the exccellent Bombay Dreams show.

The whole four hours are filled with the "making of Bombay Dreams" with about four or five video musical numbers from the show.

Very disappointing!

Although it could be shorter and the DVD lacks the energy that live theatre offers, there are some little moments when they show the rehearsals in India that were just fantastic and it shows how it all began.

....its a documentary. So to slam it because it didn't show all the show numbers is a little unfair. Granted, I really lust after getting my hands on a DVD of the full production, but until that happens, and for what this DVD is, it does the show great justice.

Then there are the few reviewers who seem to hate the show itself; well, it's their loss and I couldn't disagree more. This is a musical fashioned in the Bollywood style which is indeed quite different than what the stock and trade American Musical looks and feels like. One really need to be a bit more sophistocated to see beyond the what is normally expected and to understand the different style and then to go with it. Of course if you are expecting A Chorus Line and mentally demanding not to be challenge, then of course you are not going to "get" "Bombay Dreams," but that's not a weakness in the production, but perhaps the result of a closed mind.

This wasn't a tourist trap show as one comment refered to it. The reason it had a short run (only relatively speaking -- it could have run MUCH longer if it were in a smaller house) was because it followed a musical genre which many theatre-goers were not familiar with, ESPECIALLY tourists. For all those out-of-towners who go to the real tourists traps and sit there with open mouths -- "42nd Street," "Babes in Arms," "Cats," et al, "Bombay Dreams" was just too off-center for those who have limited meat & potatoes tastes.

Talking with both the stage manager and house manager at the very last performance the day it closed, I asked why in the world was this marvelous show closing? The answer was that because of the huge cast and unusually large technical crew as well as the theatre they were in, they needed 95% capacity every night to make the house nut, including salaries. That is an unusually high number for even the hottest tourist traps. That, plus given the fact that is was perceived as having a "foreign" theme and flavor, not enough of the public was willing to give it a chance. Such a shame...and their loss!

Those who were daring enough to stray outside the lines found a vibrant, energy-packed musical that, in my opinion, rivals anything the American Musical Theatre has produced in decades. The cast generated more excitment and more energy on that stage than I have seen in even the highly raved top sellers of many seasons.

One of the previous comments refered to this as "excess." Well, if choreography that is so exciting it gives the illusion that the dancers are levitating off the stage floor and if the incredible dancing precision between 40 dancers gives the illusion that these people one organism rather than individuals, and if the melodic content of the music is so magnetic that you can't get the songs out of your mind for days after you leave the theatre, then yes, I guess this is excess, but in this case it happens to be a GOOD thing.

With all due respect to the reviewer to ragged on this show -- hey it did fine in London; I guess it needs to play where it can get an audience with bit broader, more open minded taste than what it found in New York, or at least theatre-goers who are less jaded.

And again, as for this DVD -- for what is is, i.e., a "making of..." documentary, it does very well indeed, giving great insight into how the show was put together. You do get to see quite a bit of the dances and music along with the nuts and bolts of what goes into mounting such an monumental production. I think it does as well or even better than many other "making of's" that I've seen -- hence, 3 out of 5.

I was extremely disappointed when I received this DVD and realized that it was about the making of "Bombay Dreams" and was not the musical itself. I had seen "Bombay Dreams" on Broadway, enjoyed it very much, and could not understand why it had such a short run. But a DVD about the making of the musical was not something I would have watched more than once, out of curiosity, which is why I returned the it without opening the case.

This is an excellent DVD if you accept what it is: the DVD extras without the show. There are several of the musical numbers, but it is about the genesis of the show, it is not the show itself. I missed the actual show when it came through and, having watched this, I am very disappointed. I am equally disappointed that it seems to be playing nowhere in the world, and that the book (mentioned in the interviews) does not seem to be available either. I ordered the CD Bombay Dreams (2002 Original London Cast) as a result of this and look forward to watching more Bollywood releases.

I purchased this thinking it was the stage show how wrong !!!!

I will be very carefull next time BUT it should have stated that.

The making of "Bombay Dreams" not the actual theatrical play. A good account of back stange and how the whole play came together. Not a DVD that worth purchasing but definately a good rental.

Anyone who saw the live stage of this musical will be greatly disappointed. As some already has mentioned in their previous reviews, this is not the musical play itself but making of it--hours of documentary of the people who produced this play. Personally, I was not interested in them, nor how this musical was made. When this musical play was still on Broadway, short-lived, was enjoyable enough to have a good afternoon as a matinee show, particularly to a Bollywood lover like myself, but a second-rate musical in terms of quality nonetheless. This musical play was something like Grease--shallow, but enjoyable, and can be watched at times when you need a light entertainment. To make a background film about such a musical is self-conceited in the first place. The DVD description is grossly misleading. There are a three or four live songs and dances included in this DVD, but the filming-style is very outdated looking like as if they were taped in 1950s or 60s--camera never staying still but constantly moving around, focus constantly changing, close-ups and long-shots mixed every second alternately; it even uses a slow-motion in one of the dance scenes. In short, the camera work is too busy to let you identify what really is going on in these segments, to the extent you stop watching it after 5 minutes. In short, although this DVD is cheap, its cheap contents do not deserve your small money.

This is a dvd on the making of the musical, not the musical itself. Description of product is very deceptive. Why would anyone want a dvd of the history of Bombay Dreams, without the actual play or a movie version?