🌹🎶 Frankie Goes to Bollywood
A ramble on the stunning new musical at the Southbank
A feel-good feminist Bollywood fairy tale ... written by a man!
“It’s men’s responsibility to shine a light on sexism, and to call it out whenever and wherever they see it. I hope this show is a catalyst.”
- Pravesh Kumar, MBE - Writer/ Director, Founder of Rifco Theatre
Empathy is a powerful force in the world - it generates allyship. Pravesh Kumar has demonstrated that men can witness, empathise and disrupt sexism and help rewrite the script. Packed full of endearingly human characterisation, glib one-liners, soulful power ballads and dazzling choreography, this spectacular show demonstrates that activism can be spectacularly fun and funny.
Frankie Goes to Bollywood calls time on the gender inequality powering the Bollywood film industry. Dazzled by young dreams of stardom, after a chance meeting with film director Prem, British-born Frankie is quickly snared in predictable patriarchal powerplay by the much older Raj of Bollywood, reigning by right of family nepotism. Repeated blows are dealt to the sisterhood by the competition for men, money and status, as Frankie abandons her beloved cousin-sister Goldie and Malika, Queen of Bollywood is discarded for the younger leading lady. Trapped in a hall of media mirrors, Frankie soon realises that her new Bollywood family loves her only for her looks and will engineer her fall as swiftly as her rise. After some soul-searching, home truths from Goldie, and a reconciliation with Prem in celebrity guru rehab, she bands together with her true tribe to rewrite the script.
Whilst set in Bollywood, the oppressive tropes of patriarchy are easily recognizable as ‘the same the whole world over.’ Holly and Bollywood gender equality stats are similarly dismal. A USC report released earlier this year found that of 100 top-grossing Hollywood film directors, only 12.1% were women, calling out “performative acts” of inclusion which were “not real steps towards fostering change.” Lights, Camera, and Time for Action, a study of the 25 box office topping Hindi films of 2019 and 10 female-centric films between 2012 and 2019, found that of 1830 characters, only 23.3% and 36% were female and only 0.3% LGBTQIA. In Box Office Toppers, men played 85% of lead roles, whilst 90% of women were objectified as the love interest with revealing costumes and voyeuristic camera angles. However, when Frankie Writes/ Directs/ Leads Bollywood there is a happier ending - women-centric films employ more diverse crews on and off screen and tell stories with more fully rounded characters and relationships.
‘A tale of being British in Bollywood,’ the show is underscored by Pravesh’s experiences working in Bollywood and Rifco’s commitment to ‘celebrate and reflect contemporary British Asian experiences, culture and society.' Given the current horrific racist attacks by far-right rioters across the UK, Frankie and Goldie’s pithy ‘brown sugar sisterhood’ commentary on racism is all the more poignant. ‘Just press for the next stop’ Frankie retorts in response to receiving the stock racist insult ‘why don’t you go back to where you came from?’ on the bus. The superpowers of humour and solidarity are skillfully wielded throughout the show to satirise and disrupt oppression.
Stewed in the flavours of the masala film, the show is a swirling technicolour kaleidoscope of multi-genre stagecraft, powered by pulsing melodies. The power reversals are reminiscent of commedia dell’arte slapstick as Raj is comically de-wigged, his shampoo-ad throne assumed by his former queen Malika. As the characters pose, pout and parade for billboards, phone screens, interviews, awards and parties, the performative nature of gender identity is put on show. The blurring of the lines between film and reality makes for hilarious moments of self-conscious soliloquy as Frankie realises she is slipping in and out of Bollywood stylism, even when off-screen.
Coming out into the foyer of the Purcell Rooms, fans queue up, mini-movie screens in hand ready to capture selfies on the red carpet. Despite the feel-good factor, I can’t help feeling there’s a long way to go before we address the complex issues and inequalities flickering across and behind the silver screens. As Frankie Goes to Bollywood is set to take the world by storm, What Frankie Did Next is waiting in the wings. Here’s hoping that together we can all help write a new narrative.
Frankie Goes to Bollywood continues at the Southbank Centre until 18th August - tickets
With thanks to Esther Austin, Editor of Turning Point Magazine for inviting me to attend as a columnist for the magazine.
