Agrabah comes to India but fails to make its society more inclusive especially for women, says Chahak Mittal
Ever wondered what it feels like to be a part of a fairytale worldIJ Or how it would be to live in those dome-like lavish castles and majestic palacesIJ Well, this one takes you in the world of fantasies but, a spoiler alert: you might feel the magic vanishing in the mist.
Disney has been imperishable in creating ageless classics and making the magic of fairytales and mystical fables feel alive since years uncountable. Be it in the form of a book, a movie or a play, the attraction is hard to beat.
So when Disney’s Aladdin came to town at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, the atmosphere, as expected, was a bit crazed. It is the company’s second Indian Broadway style musical production after, Beauty and the Beast.
First the positives. One can say without a doubt that the play is an absolute feast for the eyes with its vibrant colours which sparkle across the stage. The costumes are scintillating, gold-flecked and elegantly-stitched.
The play begins with five men talking about the magnificent city of Agrabah. The genie, played by the popular RJ Mantra, jumps onto the stage and all the characters start grooving to the tunes of A Whole New World, with some lines that are improvised for the play. These include “Agrabah, where a penniless nobody can turn a somebody to noble,” “Even the poor look fabulous,” and “Thieves are adorable,” who steal from the rich to feed the poor. Despite following all the conditions for executing a play perfectly, it failed to establish a connect with the audience, emotionally. If Aladdin had more than three wishes, including one for the audience; I would have wished that the play worked on some more details just as they did for the sets and the costumes. The production, backed as it is by the Disney franchise, blew me away but it was in the direction that I found it lacking.
While the play is a recreation of the 1992 animated movie Aladdin, there was some room for improvement. Recreating the magic, especially of a performing art, needs a lot of input and changes, especially when it is being done after a long span of time. While they nearly succeeded in blending the ancient world of rulers with pop culture, the bigotry against women inherent in those ages became internalised in the play as well. In the 21st century, as we gear up and fight to create a more equal and just space for women, Aladdin continues to exist in a time warp. As the play progresses, we find out that the men of Agrabah work to earn a living or are involved with the king’s army, the women are only seen sweeping the floors, dancing with their brooms, cradling the baby in their arms or mopping the dust off the cliffs. The portrayal of women is regressive to say the least as in contemporary times they are no longer confined to their households or sweeping the floor nor do men have any qualms handling whining babies. But there are some incidents which save the director, Shruti Sharma, a woman, from being outright misogynistic.
Two scenes stand out. The first being when an ambitious Aladdin played by Taaruk Raina, who is a ‘street rat’ but intends to make his mother rather than his father proud and win hearts. Then there is the delicate yet rebellious princess Jasmine played by Kira Narayanan, who is fierce in her approach of not adhering to her father’s choice of her marriage. And to top it, she refuses to follow the ‘ancient decree’ which says that only the king can be a ruler. When she says, “What’s wrong with a woman ruling the kingdomIJ” the point comes through as a shining light in an otherwise victimised world of women as depicted in the play.
Undoubtedly, the play doesn’t fail to take digs at everyday things and makes you laugh. As the play premiered in Delhi, the puns were directed at the city’s culture.
Yet, the story remains about how Aladdin finds the magic lamp, how its genie helps him to become a king and court the princess and how he literally flies away. Seeing him fly away on the magical carpet with the princess, was certainly the “How did they do itIJ” point of the show.
The play could have been more magical with a bit more tweaks in the content.