Bollywood Parks Dubai’s latest offering, the Broadway-style musical Jaan-e-Jigar — which opens today — is a colourful, lively stage spectacle with foot-tapping Bollywood numbers interwoven in an albeit mundane story, inspired by cliched oft-used Bollywood themes of good versus evil and lost brothers.
Jaan and Jigar — colloquially referring to heart and soul in Hindi — are twins who are separated soon after they are born. Their parents are rulers of Ishqabad, a land of love and prosperity. But Salamat Khan’s (Jaan and Jigar’s father) sister, Marjaani, is an evil witch who hates her peace-loving younger brother. Jealous that their father picked him over her to rule the kingdom, she vows to destroy the newborn princes and the grieving Salamat. She wants to turn Ishqabad (land of love) to Ashqabad (land of tears) as she feels no one has the right to be happy because she’s not happy. What ensues — yes, you guessed right — is both twins survive her shenanigans and turn up together to destroy her 21 years later.
Jaan-e-Jigar is a fantastical journey through grand sets created by designer Omung Kumar, 200 performers in beautiful and bright dresses by Neeta Lulla singing and dancing hit songs such as Nagade Sang Dhol, Jai Ho, Main Agar Kahoon, Marjawan, Badtameez Dil and the iconic R.D. Burman number Mehbooba Mehbooba.
Directed and created by Viraf Sarkari of Wizcraft, Jaan-e-Jigar will hopefully become a daily feature in the new future, said Thomas Jellum, the park’s general manager.
“The first experience I had of the show was when the whole script was read to me in Hindi. Of course I did not understand anything and it was really difficult for me to try and envision what it was. I didn’t really believe in it at that time because we have to capture non-Indian [viewers] like myself also. But as the show developed and you see them dance and sing, it doesn’t really matter whether they are singing in Hindi, Urdu or Arabic, because it’s the whole tune, the atmosphere, the whole set and costumes that captivates you,” said Jellum.
The only uncomfortable thing about the show would be its length as no one wants to sit through a two-hour presentation in a theme park, and especially if you do not understand the language. But Sarkari feels that the show’s length is actually “value for money”.
“In Broadway one-and-a-half to two hours is standard time, and we’ve maintained the pricing and duration almost the same as that of [a] Broadway show,” Sarkari told Gulf News tabloid!. “When the representatives from Dubai Parks & Resorts saw another musical of mine, they loved it and wanted to do something similar. I told them I’ll do something bigger and better technology wise, concept wise. I pitched them three stories and they loved this”.
Sarkari says he worked on the story and script with well-known Bollywood writer Kausar Muneer, who has been in news for writing songs in films such as the recently released Shah Rukh Khan film Dear Zindagi and Salman Khan’s blockbuster Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
“I came up with the idea of lost princes and I briefed Kausar and we developed the story together and then the stage play. Because once you write the story, it’s extremely important for me as a director to understand how one is going to execute this story on stage, especially when it is not a straight story but something fantastical, magical. So you need to think about a lot of special effects, graphics, animation, surround sound”.
Muneer, on the other hand, said she loved the idea of writing a typical Bollywood potboiler for her first theatrical piece.
“For me it was sort of a dream come true to weave a story around all the Bollywood themes, which usually another producer or director will tell you to avoid the cliches, the ‘been there, done that’ told stories,” said Muneer. “The challenge was to do it in a contemporary manner, to give it a universal appeal. Yes, it’s a fantastical world and yes, it needs to be quintessentially Bollywood but it needs to be relevant and connect with the people today, even with kids. And most importantly the language. Most of the dialogues are in Hindi but it needed to be emoted through the story so that even if certain lines are not really understood, you get the sense of what’s going on. The most fun I had on this was writing the theme song Jaan-E-Jigar”.
Apart from the elaborate set — complete with a revolving floor lift — and props, the grandeur lay in the dresses created by Lulla. The richly embroidered skirts, the achkans worn by the lead male actors looked heavy, but Lulla said they could be carried with one finger.
“The inspiration for the fabrics and accessorisation also came from the fact that it had to be heavy duty, something solid that could last for months together even when used day after day. This [kind of challenge] inspires you as a designer and you come up with the right kind of fabric, colours, textures and silhouettes that you use,” said Lulla. “It was a challenge to create something that looks really heavy but it’s actually extremely lightweight. Everybody aspires to see fantasy and larger-than-life elements so as a technician you have to cater to that. You need to be able to give your edge and see that your characters are very comfortable when performing”.
Sarkari says his vision was to create a “totally immersive experience”.
“My concept of the show was to give the audience a different kind of cinematic experience where the backdrops are all digital and celluloid. It’s a combination of lot of things — a great story, a great script, lighting, the music, the actors and dancers — that keep the energy going. What I would say is that this is a theatrical cinematic spectacle — that’s the beauty of this production,” he said.
In numbers
1,200-plus dresses were used.
200 performers were on stage.
QUOTE/UNQUOTE
“I’m very musically inclined and am also a DJ, so I know what will work with the audience. I worked very closely with the background score and selection of the right songs in the right situations. I thought of five song options at least for each situation and then zeroed down. I then got them remixed, recomposed. Some songs — like Havan Karenge — we gave them interesting twists. [The] idea was to choose the most popular songs because then it becomes foot-tapping and sing-along for the audience”.
- Viraf Sarkari, director of Jaan-e-Jigar
Don’t miss it
Tickets to Jaan-e-Jigar at the Rajmahal Theatre start at Dh95. VIP tickets are Dh150. No extra tickets are required for entry into Bollywood Parks Dubai. Go to bollywoodparksdubai.com.
