How long is britains got bhangra

Meanwhile, Bhangra is changing and a younger crowd who are remixing the sound have taken over. In the second act we see Twinkle struggle to get his life together as repercussions from his stardom, particularly that groupie encounter, come back to haunt him. Twinkle played by Shin has a superb voice. Cast member Rina Fatania who plays an Auntie is wasted in the chorus — someone get this woman her own show! She got huge laughs whenever she was on — absolutely perfect comic timing. The show builds to a climax and the ending will knock your socks off, knit you a new pair and knock them off again.

A full on Bhangra number complete with Bollywood-style routine, amazing set and awesome costumes? The audience went absolutely mental at the end. Talk about high energy. This is a great show, with some wonderfully comical moments and a fantastic soundtrack that young and old alike will enjoy. Showing at the Playhouse til July 17th, I suggest you get your sari on, get down there and have yourself a good time.

Special mention goes out to DJ Lovely Jubbly…. Even if the book needs some tweaking, Sumeet Chopra's score is a delight that brings the audience to its feet and introduces a new sound into the stale world of the British musical.

Conceived, written and directed by Pravesh Kumar, the show follows the fortunes of Indian immigrant Twinkle in the changing Britain of the past 30 years. Starting out as a Southall bus driver in the chill Thatcherite era, Twinkle soon turns into a little star with his singing at local weddings. He and his musical mate Rocky are snapped up by a producer, Mrs Shindie, who realises that bhangra means big bucks.

But Twinkle's fortunes fade as Rocky dies, he is ripped off by his producer and his songs remixed by a loutish DJ. This being a musical, however, everything has a happy, fairytale ending.

More could have been made of the shifting British backdrop, and the second half, in which a teenage boy comes in search of his missing father, has a derivative feel. But the score, ranging from traditional bhangra to Bollywood and hip-hop, is dance-based, energising and mercifully free of the soulful wailing of so much western pop.

It is also smartly executed and vividly performed by the on-stage band, making use of the dhol drums while lifting you out of them.