'Taj Express' to bring Bollywood elements to Emens

Emens Auditorium will be filled with vibrant colors and dancing Tuesday night as "Taj Express: The Bollywood Musical Revue" takes the stage.

The show, which has toured across the country, will begin at 7 p.m. tonight.

Taj Express is currently in its fifth year on tour. Mikhail Sen is the current star and plays Shankar, a music composer who just landed his big break on a film called "Taj Express."

The show revolves around two stories, Shankar’s as a composer, creating music for the film, and the love story of Arjun and Kareena.

“But you also see the sound come to life on stage and Shankar’s imagination as he tells the story,” Sen said. “It’s basically a love story with a lot of melodrama [that’s] true to Bollywood. It’s great fun with lots of song and dance.”

The U.S. tour started in New York and has since been performed everywhere, from college campuses to large theaters. "Taj Express" has 64 shows in 56 U.S. cities in 85 days.

While Sen said traveling so much can get tiring, the experience of sharing the show with others makes it all the more exciting.

“It’s all exciting, if I’m honest, but I think the ability to really connect with different audiences in different parts and to really bring the story to life every day — every show is really exciting because it forces you to really connect with the audience,” Sen said. “There’s something about just being on the journey; it’s so exciting.”

Sen said people who come to see the show can expect Bollywood tracks throughout the production, in addition to several dance numbers. Live musicians will perform and pre-recorded Bollywood tracks will play during different scenes.

“I think the beauty of Bollywood is that it brings it all together. In terms of music, it borrows from the West in terms of like hip hop and R&B and then fuses it with all our Indian traditional classical music and our own genre as well as the dance forms,” Sen said. “In the show, you see a sort of choreography which is hip hop at one level as well as Indian bhangra, which is a classical dance form from India, and they work so well together.”

Bringing the two cultures together is something beautiful, according to Sen. It not only brings America and India together as a people, but also the people of India together because of the diversity there.

“It’s really exciting being here at this time in the U.S. because when most of the world is closing their borders," Sen said. "It’s a great opportunity for us from India to share our culture with you guys and learn so much about your culture because it’s a real exchange, a real sharing of two very different worlds, but there is so much that we have to give, and I think that’s beautiful."

Erik Birkeland, the U.S. tour manager for "Taj Express," said the show is hoping to build a brand for itself while in America for future visits. He feels privileged to work with the cast and crew and seeing the positive reactions from the crowd.

“I always try to watch the end of the show because I like watching the audience get up and dance. It’s just a very energetic ending to the performance," Birkeland said. "The whole show is energetic, but the ending is just really my favorite.

“It’s a great way to wrap up the evening on a dance high with the dancers and the audience.”

Tickets are free for Ball State students in advance or $12 at the door. 

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