If only Bollywood… The case of British Asian theatre

Abstract

The present article attempts to understand how British South Asian diasporic theatre practice uses Bollywood dance, music and songs, using two examples, namely Tanika Gupta’s Wah! Wah! Girls and Tara Arts’ The Kanjoos. While the first section deals with British South Asian theatre, the second part of the article investigates the use of Bollywood dance, songs, and music in these two productions. The final section of the article highlights the ways in which Bollywood generates particular aesthetics in theatre productions in British South Asian theatre. It also examines the reception of such Bollywoodised theatrical narratives, and the need for a better understanding of two diverse opinions among theatre practitioners’ use of Hindi film songs and dance in British South Asian theatre productions.