It was a warm and bright evening in Manchester finally spring has arrived, before I turned the corner to The Opera House i could hear the hustle and bustle outside. Beautiful bright colours and people were all excited to get inside and watch the show.

The curtain raised we look upon a shop keeper Baldev (Irvine Iqbal), who is mocked constantly by customers, clearly fed up with years of abuse. But like any strong Man he keeps his dignity by working harder. Suddenly a drunk but cheeky chap Roger (Ashley Day) walks in and tricks him in to selling him beer before he shuts, a stunt that solidifies his opinion of British people.

With years of working long hours and being treated poorly, Baldev is doing this to create a better future for himself and family. He begins to sing and sets the tone with powerful vocals, suddenly the shop disappears and we are transported in to a beautiful dream, filled with bright colours and incredible dancing. The ensemble take Baldev and the audience back to India with traditional Bharatanatyam dancing and bright Sarees and Kurta Pajam.

One of my favourite parts of the show was the mix of cultures; the way Director Aditya Chopra blended English and Indian stereotypes, comedy, vocals and dancing. He really made the audience feel part of the show and buy in to the performance. Each cast member embraced each scene and song, they put their heart and soul in to it. The opening number gave a snap shot of what the show had in stall for us and we were not going to be disappointed.

Enter our leading lady Simran (Jena Pandya) a bright, beautiful, bookworm who has finally completed her degree at Oxford, she is straight-laced and smart. A hopeless romantic yet with only a theory based knowledge, this is shown by referencing famous philosophers in her final dissertation.

To celebrate Simran and her bestie Cookie (Millie O’Connell) go to a party at the most popular boy on campus apartment. Rog is a party boy, a class mate of Simran who rarely attends or pays attention, what could go wrong. Cookie is meeting her new crush Ben (Amonik Melaco) and as soon as they lock eyes they are inseparable. Rog ends up meeting Simran; much like her Father by tricking her into helping him get some flamingos in to the party, long story short, Simran ends up behind bars. Fortunately Rog saves the day and gets her out by charming the local policeman. Not an ideal start to our two love birds fairy-tale.

Simran’s parents are worried, well her mother Lajjo the talented (Harveen Mann-Neary) think she’s “Dead in a ditch”, while her father Baldev is much more relaxed and trusts his daughter. Simran finally enters and confesses to her parents what happened, putting her trip to Europe with Cookie in jeopardy. Luckily with her mothers help; a letter from India and her debating skills she can go. Simran has been planning this trip for years, she knows once she comes home, she goes to India for her arranged marriage.

The girls are ready to set off on a European Adventure when Cookie casually drops in Ben and Rog are joining them. Simran is heartbroken that they wont get to see everything she has meticulously planned out in her itinerary, it doesn’t help the rest of the gang poke fun at all the museums. Simran is fuming that her last few weeks will be spent with a spoilt brat like Rog. That’s until Rog surprise her in Paris with speaking fluent French and some incredible ice cream. His local knowledge and charisma shines through in every new city, that’s until they get left behind and have to share a hotel room together.

I felt this whole scene was mine and part of the audiences favourite, this was due to a number of great performances; Einstein’s cowbell sketch, the multiple hotel managers, to the keen bell boy supplying champagne and croissants. Simran drinking champagne and kissing Rog. Sadly like any good night it came to an end, hungover and with little sleep Rog and Simran go back to reality and realise they have fallen for each other.

The second half begins and we are in India, the sets which were superb from the beginning, seem to grow and really set the scene. From and a technical point of view the lighting and sound were fantastic, the live band were brilliant as well as all the casts vocals and ensemble dancing. This was led at the start of the second act by Ajit (Ankur Sabharwal) his performance was brilliant.

The next few scenes were made up of Simran and Rog explaining how they had fallen in love to their mothers, and naturally a mothers does what she can to get them together, this resulting in Ray and Minky jumping on a plane to India.

We finally are introduced to Simrans arranged husband Kuljit (Kinshuk Sen) who’s comedic timing and vocals were comedy gold. A highlight for me was his rendition of Hot, aimed at Minky a fun and fabulous song that got the whole room in stitches.

Rog and Simran finally reconvene and hatch a plan to escape( Simran’s preferred choice), Ray convinces her to stay and that he will convince her family to fall in love with him. He succeeds especially with the women and cousins with a beautiful song and dance. The only problem he has is when he finally comes face to face with her father the Shopkeeper. They instantly recognise each other, Baldev remembers the cocky Brit and Rog realises this is one person he might not be able to charm.

Rog finally has some alone time with Baldev, whilst feeding the pigeons, they strike an unlikely bond over a particular pigeon. These leads to Rog really winning him over at the engagement party where he shows the whole family that he loves and respects their culture by performing with traditional Indian drums Dhol. That is until Baldev realizes that Simran and Rog are in love and forbids them to be together. Simran would rather break her own heart then disrespect her father, Rog finally understands the great philosophers and letting go of someone you love.

Will they wont they; the audience are on tender hooks, Rog and family are heading back to Blighty, Simran comes to say goodbye only to be confronted by Kuljit who suddenly realises, he has also been pressured in to an arranged marriage and its not what he wants either.

Finally Rog and Simran can be together if Baldev will except their love, he finally sees for his own eyes the bond they share. Simran runs to Ray and they jump on the train together, they embrace and ride off in to the sun set.

Six months later we are at the start of Holi a festival of colour. All the cast celebrate this tradition by covering each other in powdered paint, symbolising good over evil, its a perfect end to a beautiful performance filled with passion and colour.

I highly recommend watching this Musical, it will have you toe tapping and singing along throughout.