Director Ritu Rae Chandra tells Saimi Sattar that it was difficult to replicate the voice and the range of singer Freddie Mercury during the staging of her play Queen of Rock
Farrokh Bulsara, better known as Freddie Mercury, seems to be the flavour of the season. Close on the heels of a movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, named after his iconic song, which is also UK’s third best-selling single of all time, comes the play Queen of Rock, which celebrates the artist of Indian origin. “I had no idea that the film was going to come out. I decided to do this in December 2017 because I love the music of Freddie Mercury and am also doing musicals. It is indeed a strange coincidence that the music and play came out at the same time,” says director Ritu Rae Chandra.
The play is based on a simple story about a group of Bohemians who struggle to restore the free exchange of thought, fashion and live music in an era of uniformity. The musical act shows how the real world has transformed into a virtual one, where everyone is the same in terms of mindset, actions and dressing. “The rock music-based musical act features songs from Freddie Mercury in his signature four-octave vocal range though they are not the original tracks but are sung live,” says Ritu. These include iconic numbers like Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You, I want To Break Free, We are the Champions.
It is only for one particular place that she has used the original track by Freddie’s band, Queen. “When we change the sets on stage, there is a long black-out. So we chose to play Headlong,” she says. Another interesting element is the use of the voice of a person, who knew Freddie, through an old radio recording. But this is not the only thing that creates the impression of an old world. There are AV, lighting and props, the barbed wires hanging all around that take the audience back to a bygone era,” says Ritu.
This recreation, however, is also a commentary on the present times. “There is so much pressure nowadays, so we included the song, Under Pressure. The story comments on how the present generation is moving towards a digital world. Even music is being created through digital means as we are losing the feel of the real world. It is a contrast between what happened in the 60s and what is happening now. The songs revolve around the story,” says Ritu adding, “The cyber children are losing touch with reality. Everything can be accessed instantly at the click of a button.”
Ritu believes that the music is iconic, evergreen and resonates even today. “The Bohemian Rhapsody has these lines, ‘Is this the real life? Is this just a fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality.’ These could be written for contemporary time,” she says.
Despite the current popularity of his songs even after Freddie’s demise in 1991, Ritu believes that the singer did not get his due. “His big break was when he sang Bohemian Rhapsody in 1985 at Live Aid and he died soon after. What he sang could not be repeated as the kind of voice and the range is difficult to replicate. Even his dedication is of a different level. For one year he was working only on Bohemian Rhapsody. We don’t have that kind of situation any more. Things have changed and evolved,” she says.
Given the range that the singer-songwriter was capable of, it was naturally a challenge to find someone who could imitate him in his entirety. “The main challenge was that his voice quality and range could not be replicated. I was clear that the person was playing Freddie and it was not really him. So other people sing the sopranos, other medleys or alto backstage while the actors lip sync,” she says.
“During the audition I found some really talented people who amazed and overwhelmed me. There is a team of 35 artists including dancers and actors,” adds Ritu.
But this is not the first time that the director is staging a musical. An earlier production, Mamma Mia, was based on the Swedish Group, Abba. “The audience connects with music deeply which sets the pace. I like to use that kind of music which has a universal appeal. People can relate to such kind of music. However as compared to Abba, Queen turned out to be tougher because their songs are layered,” she says.
Ritu has had a chequered theatrical career spanning over 18 years, out of which for 15 she did non-commercial theatre, which too was unplanned. “It was a fluke. My children were in primary school when the teacher asked me to do something during the Reading Week. We staged a story from the Karadi Tales about a crow and a fox. I do not have formal training but I was working for 15 years before I decided to go big. There is nothing like learning on the job,” she says.
She directed a play for the children of the Blind School called Khushi, Ek Ehsaas. “I had 50 visually-impaired children on stage and the story was based on the teachings of the Dalai Lama. There were 10 main points. I went into it thinking that even though they are visually-impaired, they are still kids. And they proved me right. They had the same attitude, desires and wishes that any teenager has,” she says.
But what about the future? “I am so tired as we had been doing this for a year. I may repeat Queen of Rock or Mamma Mia outside Delhi but I have not really planned it as yet,” she says as she quickly makes her way inside the green room to add the finishing touches to her labour of love.
