Mira Nair doesn’t work on the same subject twice. But, in the case of her acclaimed film Monsoon Wedding, she is making an exception. She is converting the film into a musical that makes its Broadway debut in April 2014. She is currently in India to record songs for it, with music being scored by Vishal Bhardwaj. Speaking to TOI, Mira said, “The songs propel a musical. We are creating 12 songs for the musical. We’re done with six songs and I am here to record four. There are also two-hour reprises from the movie. A Punjabi rock band from New York called Red Baraat will perform the music live on stage. It’s all very hard, detailed work because it is live. We are finishing the creative work now.” She adds that she is visualising the musical as a complete spectacle. “The film is about upstairs and downstairs — the upper class and the working class — so, I’m translating that on to the stage by having Dubey (originally played by Vijay Raaz) and his sidekicks as aerial actors. They will be above us because they are fixing the tents as we speak down below,” she says.
