The Merchants of Bollywood opens in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, (ANI): The cast of the musical 'The Merchants of Bollywood', based on the true story of choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant, is set to kick off its Asian tour with its first performance in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, tonight. The Australian production is written and directed by Toby Gough, with choreography by Merchant herself.

The show is inspired by the real life story of Merchant and her grandfather Hiralalji, who is known as one of the founding fathers of classic Bollywood choreography. The musical tracks the story of Ayesha Merchant, played by actress Carol Furtado, along with some of the hit songs from Bollywood films. Furtado, who has performed the role more than 700 times since 2006, said that she approached her character with a fresh perspective every time.

"When the show's over, I shut off and don't think about it until the next performance," the New Straits-Times quoted Furtado, a trained contemporary dancer, as saying. She regarded her debut performance in Zurich as a "nerve-wrecking experience", as she had to perform the Indian classical dance kathak, which she had never attempted prior to joining the production.

"I had never done anything of this magnitude before and felt that the responsibility was too huge for me to shoulder," said Furtado. "So after the first show, I just cried for an hour. I just had to get it out of my system. And it all went great after that," she added.