Here’s a great photo gallery from the April premiere of Bombay Dreams in New York. Celebs in the photos include A.R. Rahman, Padma Lakshmi, Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, Meera Syal, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Claire Danes, Edie Falco (The Sopranos), Kenneth Cole, Donald Trump and hydraulically-assisted girlfriend Melania Knauss, Ivana Trump with boy-toy, and former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey. And it’s interesting to see, out of costume, the guy who plays Sweetie the hijra. Salman Rushdie and Bill and Hillary Clinton have also seen the show.
Janet Jackson was offered the role of Rani the seductress, replacing Ayesha Dharker. With family-friendly lyrics like ‘Got a nice package all right, guess I’m gonna have to ride it tonight,‘ and her patriotic role in the Teat Offensive, Jackson would fare well with desi family audiences.