Musical play review/ Bombay Jazz

 


BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Bombay Jazz/ English play

Director: Etienne Coutinho

Written by: Ramu Ramanathan 

Cast: Denzil Smith, Rhys Sebastian

Theatre company: Stagesmith Productions

Rating: ****

It's been one of those theatrical presentations I kept missing. Originally called Jazz, it featured actor Bugs Bhargava and saxophonist Rhys Sebastian when it premiered in 2007. Over time, Denzil Smith played the main role of an aging Goan musician who's been part of the Mumbai film music scene from the 1950s to the 1970s. The musical is now titled Bombay Jazz.

I finally got to see it at the Prithvi Theatre on April 4, Directed by Etienne Coutinho, it has been scripted by Ramu Ramanathan. While Denzil and Rhys, who.plays the veteran musician's protégé, come up with fabulous performances, an interesting aspect.is the use of audio-visuals featuring various characters and shown in the backdrop. Coupled with Merlyn DSouza's background music, and live playing by Rhys who excels on 'Take Five', Bombay Jazz makes for a great theatrical spectacle.

Denzil, who is shown to love his whisky and even get up startled from his death bed when he hears something uncanny, has a role that mixes the tales of various musicians of yore. These included trumpeter Chic Chocolate, saxophonist Braz Gonsalves, and musician-arrangers Anthony Gonsalves, Chris Perry and Sebastian D'Souza.(Rhys' grandfather in real). These artistes played jazz in the evenings while working with well-known Hindi music directors like Shankar-Jaikishan, C. Ramchandra, Madan Mohan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and R.D. Burman on a regular basis. This was before Louiz Banks settled in Mumbai after his remarkable stint in Kolkata.

The play is high on humour, as writer Ramu Ramanathan brings out the personalities of older musicians, and also comes up with truths on their plight. A particulat shot when a younger image of the saxophonist makes way for a solo by Rhys has been very well staged. However, the people in the audio-visuals come in and go at such a rapid pace that it's difficult to figure out who their real-life equivalents are.

At a running time of an hour and 15 minutes without an interval, Bombay Jazz is a breezy and enjoyable experience. A special mention of the performances. Rhys is perfectly cast, and comes up with some great spells on the saxophone. Denzil fits the aging, booze-loving musician to the T. One side of his white shirt tucked in, a dark coat as was the trend  those days, hair dishevelled, he looks the part. That dialogue delivery is bang on. One looks forward to seeing him in Autobiography, directed by Lillette Dubey and written by Mahesh Elkunchwar, this Sunday at the Experimental Theatre.



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