VYOMA SHAH
A Review of India’s First
Reality Show Musical
A
first of its kind, and possibly the largest homegrown
musical in English comprising of 29 songs that span
across various genres, Sing India Sing is a story
about the extent to which aspiring artists are willing to sell
their souls to achieve their goals, conveyed through a well
engineered blend of music and story telling.
While waiting for the show to begin, my first thought was
how a production so large was going to take place on a stage
quite contrary in size. However, as soon as the opening tune,
City Lights came on, I was taken aback by the grandeur of
the set. Whether it was the futuristic grids for The Hashtags,
the performance platform for the participants or the pull out
room for the judges, all the different parts largely enriched the
theatrical experience for the audience. The video graphics,
depicted through multiple LED screens not only brought
the show to life, but also let the audience closely gauge the
emotions of the characters by displaying close ups during
their performances and during pivotal points in the story.
Clever interlays of the screen content amongst the physical
set design were impeccably well executed.
The cast was chosen fittingly – each aspirant was able to do
justice to the genre that they were representing and ensure
that the pieces composed by the talented Clinton Cerejo
created the impact they were envisioned to. While Vishnu
(Siddharth Basrur) and Shweta (Sarosh Nanavaty) emerged
as two of the stronger contenders and were the soul of the
musical, Jazzy (Tavish Bhattchharya) and Kitty (Kamakshi
Rai) were the verve of the play. Vishnu had the audience well
under his spell with his powerful rock vocals and Shweta’s
immaculate delivery of Sisters Say No, the musical’s finest
composition in my opinion, whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
Kamakshi slipped effortlessly into her role as Kitty, a former
bar dancer, who was responsible for the Bollywood factor of
the musical. Jazzy delightfully provided the occasional comic
relief amidst all the regular reality show drama, through his
Carnatic rap singing.
One could tell that regular theatre practitioners such as Brian
Tellis (Rocky) and Suchitra Pillai (Dolly) felt at home on stage.
Uday Benegal’s (Channel) vocal prowess in no secret and he
proved yet again that he is one of the best voices that exist
in our country. Speaking of the Hashtags, their tracks were
particularly well composed and closely embodied the grand
and theatrical nature of traditional Broadway songs. Though
they pretty much had their fingers on the pulse of the show,
I felt like the ‘gossip, scandal, scoop and scam’ vibe could’ve
been a lot more intense.
Moving on to the reality show aspect of the musical, the plot
had it all - the casting couch syndrome, the counterfeit sob
stories, ego clashes and unexpected twists. However, due
to quick occurrences of multiple events in limited time, it
was difficult to emotionally connect with the characters.
Integration of reality show components like constant
surveillance or behind the scenes with Miss Malini had the
potential to generate a lot more buzz. Building anticipation,
a little prior to the show by going live from an official social
media account periodically during rehearsals might have
made it easier to get invested in the characters’ stories. On
the other hand, the inclusion of real time voting indeed went
a long way in keeping the audience engaged and making them
feel like a part of the journey.
All in all, the successful execution of Sing India Sing connotes
something much larger than it being the first of its kind.
It is not only a significant milestone for the Indian theatre
and music industry, but also a testimony to the fact that we
have the talent, the vision and the resources for creating a
production grand and unforgettable enough to place us at par
with our western contemporaries.
The
Score Magazine
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