Bollywood Spins & Weaves a Fairy Tale
Photos: Murali Santhana
By Vanshika Vipin
HOUSTON: There are regular performances, and there are performances that take your breath away. The magic of the latter lingers around much after it has created an impact. And this is precisely what Bollywood Blast 2016 did to its audiences. Last Sunday, September 4, the Miller Outdoor Theatre witnessed an unusual event; a beautiful kaleidoscope of jigs and moves from the hit numbers of Bollywood. The event, aptly named as ‘Bollywod Blast 2016 | Kaleidoscope- A Bollywood Fairytale’ was presented by Dr. Rathna Kumar of Samskriti and directed, choreographed, and performed by Infused Performing Arts.
Samskriti, Indian Performing Arts, was established with the vision of uniting cultural traditions between the East and the West. The sole objective was to bring the best of Indian fine arts from around the world to Houston audiences and promote cross-cultural programs involving Indian and American artists from different ethnic backgrounds in meaningful collaborations. Infused Performing Arts provides Bollywood dance classes and custom choreography for special occasions and competitions, for all ages in their studios across Houston and Dallas. Founders and choreographers Tina Bose-Kumar & Kiron Kumar started Infused Performing Arts out of their sheer passion and dedication to the arts and for promoting the rich Indian culture to students and audiences in USA.
The combination of these two diverse and artistic brands created quite a big stir amongst the strong crowd of over 8000 fans. A Bollywood interpretation of Cinderella, ‘A Magical Bollywood Fairytale’, swept the audiences off their feet. The victorious blend of performances by the team of Kiron & Tina Bose Kumar, left the audiences in awe. The performances included various dance forms and styles, mind-boggling stunts by energetic aerialists and fascinating magic illusions. While opulent costumes augmented the glitz and glamor quotient, the scripts and dialogues by Kiron Kumar and Yaksha Bhatt, and the lighting by Suman Mangu and Kiran Asokan added more weight to the entire show.
Enacting as ‘Prem Singh’, Kiron, who is known to overwhelm and leave a mark always, did so yet again, amidst screams and cheers, shaking to Hrithik’s signature step in the Bollywood Hit ‘Ek Pal Ka Jeena’. What flabbergasted the audiences soon after was the act when Kiron made Akhila Kumar (playing Ella) float in the air and then disappear, only to make her re-appear from a pit amongst them. While this act was played to the melodious ‘Sun Sathiya’, it beautifully blended to the next, a classical hit number ‘Mere Dholna’, on which Kiron and Akhila performed a dance duet. The crowd was amazed with their performance and it was evident that they were completely mesmerized and in love as ‘Ella’ left behind a magical bangle for ‘Prem’ to find her. Sass comedy was at it again with a hilarious performance by Tony Williams, where he played Ella’s fairy Godparent. The classical melody merged to the crazy house party song ‘Kar Gayi Chull’ and ‘High Heels’, a finale medley featuring five couples who hip-hopped and swayed to dazzle the audience. The show concluded on the popular ‘Thillana’, with pretty girls in multicolored spanish skirts whirling and twirling to a fusion classical dance. An instant gratification for the performers, the love and affection of audiences, was expressed in form of their long standing ovation in the end.
After the show, Tina stated, “Kiron and I feel incredibly blessed and proud to have directed and choreographed such an incredible ‘Magical Bollywood Fairytale”. She then went on to thank her amazing dancers, backstage crew, actors, parents, and well wishers, without whom, as she said, nothing would be possible.
Upcoming events:
INFUSION 2016: November 19, 2016 & Venue: Stafford Civic center
Rockets VS. OKC Halftime performance: March 26, 2017
Visit www.infusedperformingarts.com or call 724-638-7338