Bollywood stars attend premier of Bombay Dreams

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">LONDON: A galaxy of Bollywood stars including actress Juhi Chawla, versatile actor Naseeruddin Shah and film producer Subhash Gai attended the world premier of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bombay Dreams</span>, the long-awaited Bollywood musical composed by music wizard A R Rahman, here on Wednesday night.<br />A packed audience at the tastefully decorated Apollo Victoria theatre at Victoria gave a standing ovation to the star cast at the end of the three-hour musical and the best words came from the producer of the show Andrew Lloyd Webber, who said the musicals of Rahman was the best he had heard so far.<br />The four million pound musical, features the best of British Asian and Indian talent to create a thrilling tale set in Bollywood, the largest film industry in the world.<br />Written by Meera Syal, the musical tells the story of Priya, wealthy daughter of famous Bollywood producer Madan Kumar, who dreams of making her first movie and Akaash, a young slum dweller who aspires to be a Bollywood star.<br />Set against the backdrop of the buzzing and vibrant metropolis of Mumbai, where everyone is out to make a quick buck, it is the story of these two young hopefuls.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bombay Dreams</span> features the classic Bollywood ''masala'' of romance, comedy, tragedy, melodrama, songs and dance but what was outstanding was the music of virtuoso Rahman. <br />"The music of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bombay Dreams</span> is almost like an extension of eight years of my career," Rahman said. "The only special thing is it''s in English, so it''s been a challenge trying to cross the language barrier and reach a mainstream audience too. It will be a really eye-opener for the whole of the West towards Indian music," he said.<br />Webber said, "in Rahman, I met someone who I believe could carry the torch of musical theatre into a new dimension."<br />The lyrics for <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bombay Dreams</span> are by Oscar winner Don Black. The show is directed by Steven Pimlott with production design by Mark Thompson. Farah Khan, who provided the choreography for the Bollywood dance sequence was also present on the occasion.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bombay Dreams</span> began life as a dream between Andrew Lloyd Webber and internationally-renowned film producer Shekher Kapur in 1999. </div> </div>