Attracted by the colour, vibrant dance and costumes, Hong Kongers will flock to see the new Bollywood musical You Me & Butter Chicken, at the Fringe Club.
The Indian community has long been established in Hong Kong, but the Bollywood culture is just starting to creep up into the cultural scene.
You Me & Butter Chicken is a Bollywood musical about an old couple who celebrate their 50 years together and reminisce about their earlier “hip and trendy” days.
“I want people to experience the beauty of Bollywood, the vibrancy of the dances and opulent colours, and enjoy the Bollywood masala (spice),” said producer and choreographer of You Me & Butter Chicken Soni Punjabi (nee Soni Agnani).
Being an Indian dance teacher herself, Soni, through her social circle, found her friends shared a common love of drama, “and I thought what better way to mix dance and drama together and try to bring something new to Hong Kong. It’s the dance aspect I love and I thought why don’t we get everyone’s passion together and try to see what we can do with it.”
According to Soni, You Me & Butter Chicken is the first “local” Bollywood show of its kind.
“I have a lot of Chinese friends in Hong Kong [who] love Bollywood music, and have actually watched a lot of Bollywood movies. Sometimes they will tell me about songs that I haven’t even heard of yet.”
Beauty comes only after hard work; this is Soni’s first time organising a Bollywood musical. Fitting in everyone’s schedules and managing expectations out of great passion within the performing group, all posted challenges for Soni.
All is worth it though she says: “When I see the product come to completion, it’s satisfying; I love it. I love the fact that what I visualise in my head I project and get people to perform.”
Soni is hoping that Bollywood will unfold in Hong Kong “in a big way”.
“I’m very keen on inculcating an understanding of what Bollywood’s about in Hong Kong, and this is just scratching the surface. My aim also is to bring people together who share the same passion.”
And what does Soni expect from the audience?–She hopes they will enjoy the Bollywood experience!
“If I can get people to want to get up and dance to the Bollywood tunes that for me would be the biggest achievement!”
You Me & Butter Chicken is showing at the Fringe Club from Aug 12-14.
