A colorful evening in Mayer
By Aitor Zabalegui
Imagine waiting months for the next movie from your favorite director, featuring all your favorite actors, with only piecemeal trailers to pettily whet your palette in the mean time. Actually, that's not too outlandish at all; that's how Hollywood operates. But imagine that when you finally saw the film, billed as a routine drama, and the all-star cast periodically broke into choreographed song and dance throughout the film. This depression-era musical style may be far removed from our cinematic culture, but in Bollywood, song and dance is not an escapism tactic -- it is cinema.
South Asia is so indelibly ripe with culture; it would be impossible and foolish to think it could be broken down in a university newspaper article. It is an inadvertent coincidence, therefore, that the Multicultural Club Intandesh is putting on "Rangeeli Shaam: The Movie," a culturally educational spectacle of South Asian culture.
For the past 25 years, Multicultural Center clubs have put on culture nights dedicated to their respective backgrounds. This year's Intandesh performance was directed and partly choreographed by Ruehanee Killer, a sophomore member of Intandesh who also choreographed a dance for last year's show. Killer started doing traditional South Indian dance when she was nine years old, but later "branched out into more fun fusions with hip-hop and jazz," she recalled.
When asked whether the style she grew up with would have a heavy influence in the show, Killer replied, "It is more of a hodge-podge of what's entertaining and exciting. We are working off of the Bollywood style and incorporating four different types of dances: Garba, which is a Gujarati folk dance; Bhangra, a Punjabi folk dance that people would be most familiar with; Bharatanatyam and Hip-hop."
Organizing the performance and rehearsing the dance has been an enlightening experience for everyone involved.
"I never grew up with dance. Last year, I did Bollywood dance and this year, I'm doing Bhangra and Garba for the first time," said Intandesh President Jaison Mathew. "So even though I'm from the culture, I've been exposed to different aspects of it interactively through people like Rue with more experience."
The show looks to focus on the personal and traditional issues of South Asian youth through the eyes of the performers.
"Bollywood has all of the same over-dramatizations of Hollywood -- there are kids dealing with the expectations of arranged marriages, and meanwhile their parents are concerned with them being untraditionally free-spirited. The show will depict that and also feature more classic dances for older generations," explained Killer, who proclaimed that the show has something to offer for everyone.
In the week leading up to the show, the whole group has gone through a strenuous series of nightly rehearsals in anxious anticipation of a one-off successful performance.
"Right now, we're thinking, 'Will everything come together?' But it always has a way of working out in the end," said Mathew. "Professionals or not professionals, it always comes down to the minute before the show, but I think it'll turn out great," said an earnest Killer.
The performance will be in Mayer Theatre at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, with doors opening at 7. The cultural extravaganza will continue in the Bronco with the quarterly Bronco Bhangra, serving as an after-party for the show.
"If we have any energy left in us," joked Mathew.
Contact Aitor Zabalegui at azabalegui@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.