Raise the Sail

You think your in-laws are bad? Try living with them.

Rafta Rafta is playwright Ayub Khan Din’s take on the 1963 play “All in Good Time” by Bill Noughton. The story centers around newlyweds Atul and Vina who decide to move in with his parents to save some cash. However the thin walls and crowded house leave Atul feeling a little… impotent. Unfortunately the entire family knows about it leading to his mother-in-law to aptly state “There’s no new planting in the Shalimar Gardens”.

The play originated in London and is now showing in New York until June 28^th. Catch it while you can!

www.thenewgroup.org

Musical Monsoon

We’ve seen it all. Grease, Legally Blonde, Spamalot. It’s not the first time a film as inspired a stage adaptation. But none of them have any…. masala.

On the heels of Shilpa Shetty’s Miss Bollywood, along with The Merchants of Bollywood and Bollywood Dreams, comes another desi-centric musical and the first of its kind.

For the first time a desi film will be adapted for the theater. The movie? The 2001 Mira Nair hit, Monsoon Wedding. The musical will be directed by Nair herself and produced by the same group who brought us the Broadway smash Hairspray. Although the director is keeping the cast on the DL, she does confirm that two of the original stars will be in the musical.

Next up for the uber-talented director? Shantaram, a film about an escaped Australian convict who makes a new life for himself in the slums of Mumbai. Lucky for us, this cast for this project is not on the down low. The stellar cast includes Johnny Depp (yeah!), Amitabh Bachchan, and Helena Bonham Carter.

And maybe one day Shantaram will be a musical. Johnny Depp on stage? Now that’s a play we’d like to see.

For more Mira Nair news, check out her website www.mirabaifilms.com