All of us like to be dazzled, don’t we?” remarks Mantra, the radio-jockey turned actor playing the character of the Genie in a Broadway-style production of Disney’s Aladdin. Aladdin, played by Siddharth Menon and Taaruk Raina, remains a resident of the mythical city of Agrabah, but he shares something in common with India. The camaraderie between the Genie and Aladdin is expressed in Hindi, a language that only the two of them can use to communicate with each other. The rest of the cast speaks in English, making Hindi the indigenous aspect of a globally loved tale.
“Broadway-style” theatre is