Bachchans bring Bollywood glitz to Toronto

Bollywood's first family, the Bachchans, has landed in Toronto at the start of a world tour of their extravagant new musical.

Patriarch Amitabh Bachchan, a Bollywood icon who starred in films such as Sholay and Black, will share the stage with his son, Abhishek Bachchan and his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, both also film stars.  

Their Unforgettable Tour, a musical production designed to introduce the charms of Bollywood to a world audience, involves a cast of 150 and music and choreography by some of India's most respected artists.

The first performance is Friday at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

In an interview with CBC News on Thursday, Amitabh Bachchan, who backed the project initiated by his son, said it was a rare treat to work so closely with family on the production.

"That's a great experience," he said. "It very rarely happens — three members of the family, in fact four — my wife is here. She will be coming on stage perhaps to wave a few kisses to the audience, but it's wonderful to have all four members of family onstage."

His son, Abhishek, won India's best actor award for Guru and his daughter-in-law has also made the transition to English-language movies starring in films such as Bride and Prejudice. The couple's wedding last year was an event throughout India.

The Unforgettable Tour is the kind of live theatrical production that does well in India, but also a chance for Bollywood to reach out to audiences overseas.

"My son, who is now a prominent member of the film industry, and my daughter-in-law were very keen to reach out to the audiences, reach out to the fans and they invited me on," Bachchan said.

"At 66, it's a little difficult to shake a leg and sing a song, but we wait for the Toronto audiences to provoke us into dancing and singing."

Stellar cast

While Amitabh Bachchan's dancing role may be limited, the rest of the stellar cast is putting a lot of energy into the three-hour event, which features Hindi song, up-tempo dance and Bollywood-style production.

Preity Zinta, Riteish Deshmukh and action hero star Ashkay Kumar are participating in the Toronto leg of the tour. Music is by composer duo Vishal-Shekhar and dancers from the Shiamak Davar dance troupe, famous for its work in Bollywood, will fill the stage.

Bachchan said the tour is not solely about entertainment — it's also a chance to spread a message about global warming.

"We are threatened by it and we need to start taking actions to repair it as we go along," he said. "I think there are little things that all of us need to do in our lives — putting off the television, putting off extra lights, not overcharging your mobile phone. They sound very incongruous but in the larger perspective they mean a lot to the world."

The show begins in Toronto because of the tremendous support the Bachchans received here, including the 2007 premiere of Guru, he said.

"I've been here several times and the audiences here have just been unbelievable They have been unforgettable — that's why the Unforgettable Tour is starting off from Toronto," he said.

In a news conference later in the day, Bachchan said fans had turned out at the Toronto airport to greet them.

Tickets to the Toronto show are a pricey $300, but that's not as high as Atlantic City, N.J., a later stop on the tour, where they cost $750.

A reporter who dubbed the show the "Unaffordable Tour" was drowned out by heckling fans who were allowed to sit in the audience.

"I don't price the tickets, the promoters and the organizers of the show, they price them," Bachchan said.

From Toronto, the show goes on to London, the U.K., the Caribbean and Australia. It will make a stop in Vancouver on Aug. 17.