Dazzles But Doesn’t Mesmerise. Review on Zangoora - the Gypsy Prince

When I received free passes for the premiere show of Zangoora – The Gypsy Prince a couple of weeks ago, my first thought was, “What the hell is this about?” The passes had a picture of an 8-pack-abs-displaying Hussain Kuwajarwala with Gauhar Khan on one side and Kashmira Irani on another – all of them dressed in glitzy costumes. Further investigation revealed that this is meant to be India’s version of broadway – a musical theatre production staged on a huge scale.

A new cultural property called ‘Kingdom of Dreams’ has come up in Gurgaon and this show was held in one of its theatres called the ‘Nautanki Mahal’. Billed as ‘bollywood’s biggest musical ever’, Zangoora is an interesting fusion of bollywood and theatre – a play being played out in bollywood style with songs and dance every five minutes (complete with background dancers!). Boasting of big names from bollywood like Javed Akhtar (story and lyrics), Shankar-Ehsan-Loy (music), Shaimak Davar (choreography), Neeta Lulla (costumes), Zangoora is marketed as a never-seen-before experience for the Indian audience.

So I reached the venue at the scheduled time, as curious to see the whole property of Kingdom of Dreams as the show itself. I wasn’t disappointed by my first view – here was a huge compound that looked like a cross between a mandir and a palace of the 16 century India. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to explore it as we were ushered straight-away to the entrance of Nautanki Mahal where musicians in bright clothes playing different instruments stood of either side of the red carpet. A good experience that! We entered the hall-cum-lobby which served as the waiting area complete with a bar offering free soft/hard drinks and snacks. My companion was more thrilled than I was – free hard drinks!! These were available again later during the 20 minute interval of the two-hour show. I don’t know if this is going to be the case for all shows or if it was only meant for the premiere show but considering that the ticket prices range from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 6,000 I won’t be surprised if this is a regular feature.

When it was time for the show to start, we were asked to proceed to the auditorium, the first glimpse of which was awe-inspiring (please see the pictures attached). The stage here has a huge LED screen as a background and two more screens on the left and right side of the audience. When the show started I realized that all these three screens were used to show the background of the scenes playing. For eg. the scenes in all three screens kept changing when the action moved from a palace to a forest to a seaside to a gypsy camp etc. This was further enhanced by spectacular set pieces placed in front of the screens to complete the look. The fantastic dolby sound added to the experience (and it helped that the dialogues and well as the songs were pre-recorded).

Coming back to the play - set in a fictional kingdom of Shaktishila, Zangoora is the story of a prince (Hussain) who is raised by gypsies after his parents are killed by a traitor, Zorawar, who usurps the throne. Unaware of his real identity Zangoora grows up as a spirited banjaara who is the apple of everybody’s eyes. Laachi (Gauhar Khan) is his best friend and also in love with him but he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings. One day Zangoora bumps into Sonali (Kashmira Irani) a princess from another kingdom who has come to Shaktishila as a guest of Zorawar. The two fall in love and gradually Zangoora comes to know of his history. How he avenges his parent’s murders and wins back his throne is what the story is all about.

This is a story we have seen many times in numerous bollywood movies. But then this show wasn’t so much about telling a story as about how to tell it. The whole idea is to dazzle the viewers with the incredible sets, colourful costumes, energetic dance performances, live magic acts, special effects and ariel acrobatics (so you have the hero and heroine floating in the air while singing pahla nasha pahla khumar). And while the viewer is quite dazzled initially, it starts losing its charm after a while.

After we have seen all the impressive acts and dance performances, we want to see a story well told. This is where Zangoora disappoints. The weak direction and bad dialogues don’t help the predictable storyline in any way. Also there are too many songs - it seems the makers decided to incorporate a song every five minutes so that the viewer won’t notice the glaring flaws in the screenplay. That all the songs are bollywood numbers (except for the title song) also takes away the authenticity of the drama.

A good bunch of actors could have raised the show to another level but unfortunately none of the actors, except Hussain and Gauhar, had the talent or the stage presence for a show of this stature. Gauhar impressed a lot with her smooth dance moves and lively stage presence. But Kashmira was quite pathetic in comparison. Isha Sherwani was supposed to do this role initially and I guess Kashmira was a last minute replacement. Thankfully that is not the case with Hussain who replaced Vivek Oberoi after the latter backed out of the show. He was the soul of Zangoora and carried the show on his shoulders. He acted well, danced well, displayed ample charm and made all the women in the hall swoon when he took off his shirt during a song to display perfect 8-pack abs! But I guess even the best of actors can’t save a show which is flawed at its basic level – story and direction.

All in all, Zangoora is a show that appeals to the eyes but not to the heart or mind. It is definitely a one-time watch for sheer technical brilliance but doesn’t have any repeat value. Recommended only because of its first-of-its-kind experience.