Here's how they do staging for a filmi spectacle

In June this year, filmmaker Farah Khan attended the staging of Japanese theatre troupe Takarazuka Revue’s musical play Oomu Shanti Oomu in Osaka. Now, if the name rings a bell in your head, that’s probably because you have seen the film it has been inspired by — Farah’s 2007 superhit film Om Shanti Om. “In a way, the film came a full circle, as I’d got the idea of my film from Bombay Dreams, a West End musical I had choreographed in 2002,” recalls Farah. But, who would have thought Deepika Padukone’s debut film would one day make it to international shores in the form of a musical?

Theatre has often lent itself to the big screen. While the Akshay Kumar-starrer OMG — Oh My God! was based on the Gujarati play Kanji Virudh Kanji, Ashutosh Gowariker was inspired to make the film What’s Your Raashee, after watching a play called A Suitable Bride. Playwright William Shakespeare’s plays have been fodder for many of Vishal Bhardwaj’s films, including Maqbool, Omkara and Haider.

However, stage adaptations of movies is a relatively newer phenomenon. While K Asif’s classic Mughal-e-Azam has been successfully adapted into a musical by director Feroz Abbas Khan, with audiences thronging to watch the grand spectacle on stage, Mira Nair’s 2001 arthouse hit Monsoon Wedding had a successful run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre as a musical early this year. Bend it Like Beckham the Musical, was based on the 2002 film of the same name. It made its West End and world premiere at the Phoenix Theatre in 2015.

The magic of a live experience

While stage adaptations of films have been the norm at West End and Broadway, here, it’s still relatively new. It’s not as if films haven’t been adapted for the stage earlier. Salim Arif made  Chakkar Chalaaye Ghanchakkar, a film based on Gulzar’s Angoor. Mahesh Bhatt’s movies including Arth, Daddy and Hamaari Adhuri Kahaani have been turned into plays. However, the difference now lies in the scale of the production and the way it is remounted as a theatre piece. “For instance, if you see Titanic: The Musical, at West End, they actually show almirahs etc falling off the stage when the ship is tilting. So, there is great power in watching something like that live on stage. Also, audiences now are willing to pay more for live entertainment, so it’s possible to now bring grand movies, such as Mughal-e-Azam, on stage,” feels theatre director Quasar Thakore Padamsee.

The addition of music adds to the overall experience of watching a story that most viewers are familiar with, if they have seen the movie. The music for Monsoon Wedding, the play, was composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and that, says   Namit Das, who played the character of PK Dubey (originally played by Vijay Raaz in the movie), adds that extra charm to the experience. “The fact that it’s a musical, and not a realistic format in that sense, makes watching this play a unique experience,” says the actor.

Also, the devices used and the visuals are completely different. “There are different actors playing those roles now, so they bring in their own nuances to the play,” he adds. An audience who has already seen the movie, will often go out of curiosity to see how they have adapted the story from the big screen to the stage, Quasar avers. “Also, these stage versions try and re-invent the film, sometimes as musicals, and that’s what brings in the audience, who are drawn by the familiar, yet, want to see how it’s been adapted for the stage format,” he adds.

To adapt or not to adapt

All said and done, touching a classic or a cult movie to make it work for the stage, comes with its own set of challenges, which may not always be technical. “My challenges were more to do with perceptions, rather than the actual work. For a lot of people, Mughal-e-Azam  is sacrosanct. The movie is so deeply entrenched in people’s minds, that many felt that I should not touch it,” recalls Feroz. But the director’s tribute to the beauty and grandeur of K Asif’s masterpiece, has silenced those voices. The musical has not only had four successive sold-out seasons in Mumbai, it’s done phenomenally well in the capital as well.

“I have retained the old memories, added some new ones and given it a contemporary rhythm,” explains Feroz.

However, Namit feels comparisons between the original work and the play are bound to happen and that’s something they have to learn to deal with. “Monsoon Wedding is a cult movie and people all over the world have loved it, so they will come with pre-conceived notions. The creators and people involved with the theatre piece have to constantly fight that and keep audiences hooked till the end,” he says.

No boundaries

Theatre-wise, Quasar feels these are exciting times with such cross-pollination of artistic ideas. So on one hand, while Japan gives a nod to Bollywood masala fare with their version of Om Shanti Om, here too, the critically-acclaimed 1989 Hollywood film Dead Poet’s Society was adapted for the stage as part of the Thespo initiative. “There are times when you see a good piece of work on stage or on screen, and you want to retell it but in a different medium. That makes it a special experience,” adds Quasar.

Farah seconds the opinion. “There were some 2,500 Japanese people in the audience, putting up their hands and singing Om Shanti Om, when the musical was staged. It was an out-of-body experience for me to see a Hindi film adapted on stage and that too, in Japan. It really shows how culture transcends boundaries and languages.”

With musicals gaining prominence in Mumbai, Namit is hopeful that Monsoon Wedding, the play, too, will find its way here. “The makers are thinking of it,” he reveals, “Not just big musicals, but even smaller ones like Piya Behroopiya and Stories in a Song have done well and keeping all that in mind, I think they want to bring a version of the musical here as well. I think it has great scope here as it’s our story being told in our land,” he signs off.