The Color Of Bollywood

The much-hyped $14 million Bombay Dreams finally opens on Broadway. Ben Brantley finds it colorful but familiar: “Such is the perverse spell cast by this friendly, flat and finally unengaging tale of glamorous movie folk and lovable untouchables that everything seems to melt into one neutral blur before your eyes, like a monochromatic symphony in the key of beige. Advertisements for the show may tout it as a voyage to “somewhere you’ve never been before.” But even theatergoers who have never seen a sari or eaten papadum are likely to find “Bombay Dreams” as familiar as this morning’s breakfast. It takes more than color, evidently, to be colorful.”