Bombay Dreams

Bombay Dreams
The CD Cover for the 2002 Original London Cast Recording
Music	A. R. Rahman
Lyrics	Don Black
Book	Meera Syal Thomas Meehan
Productions	2002 West End 2004 Broadway 2006 North America tour

Bombay Dreams is a Bollywood-themed musical, with music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Don Black and the book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan, originally produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two years. The musical was later produced on Broadway in 2004.

The story centers around Akaash, a young man from the slums of Bombay who dreams of becoming the next big star in Bollywood. Fate steps in when a rich lawyer and his fiancée, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, arrive to prevent the demolition of Akaash's slum. Akaash quickly falls in love with the lawyer's fiancée, Priya, who happens to be the daughter of a famous Bollywood director. Complications arise as Akaash faces the reality of show business, fame, his love for Priya, and his obligations to his family, friends, and his Paradise slum.

The story also deals with the change of name from Bombay to Mumbai and the identity issues that this raises.

London production

Broadway production

Bombay Dreams premiered in the West End at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on June 19, 2002 and closed in June 2004. The original cast included Preeya Kalidas as Priya, Raza Jaffrey as Akaash, Ayesha Dharker as Rani, Dalip Tahil as Madan, and Ramon Tikaram as Vikram.

The musical opened on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre on April 29, 2004 and closed on January 1, 2005 after 284 performances. The director was Steven Pimlott, with choreography by Anthony Van Laast and Farah Khan and scenic and costume design by Mark Thompson. The cast featured Manu Narayan as Akaash and Madhur Jaffrey as Shanti. The plot, format and characters of Bombay Dreams were revised several times. The book of the musical was rewritten and many songs were cut and other songs added to the show for the Broadway run.