How bhangra and panto merged to make Surinderella

The creators of the Desi pantomime Surinderella say the show has helped British South Asian audiences see themselves reflected on stage.

The production, described as blending "bhangra beats, colour and magic" with the classic panto tale Cinderella, is touring England and most recently ran in Gravesend, Kent.

Sonya Venugopal, who plays title character Surinder, said the show brought "a whole different diaspora of people" to the traditional genre.

"It feels very groundbreaking and like we're reaching a lot of people that maybe didn't see themselves on stage," she told the BBC.

Artistic director Pravesh Kumar said it was "not very often you get to see British South Asian actors and stories centre stage on English stages".

"This is really rare but our audiences are really mixed, and that's what's really beautiful about it," he said.

"We get to see new British South Asian audiences but also panto audiences are coming and loving it and dancing in the aisles."

The production has two stops in London remaining on its tour: Artsdepot in Barnet on 17 and 18 October and the Theatre Royal Stratford East from 20 to 31 October.

Kumar said Bollywood films had "basically the same story" as Cinderella and were "high drama, high camp, colourful, lots of song and dance".

"The two just married so beautifully together that it just makes complete sense to do it," he said.

Venugopal, who is American, plays the lead role of a young woman stuck doing chores thanks to her self-obsessed stepsisters.

The character's world is turned upside down when she crosses paths with Prince Kavi, with a Bollywood ball and a missing slipper also featuring.

The cast includes former BBC Asian Network presenter Harpz Kaur as Devi Godmother and TV personality Andy Kumar as step-sister Lovely, as well as the costume designer.

He said the design was an "amazing experience to do, just to be able to pull out costumes that sit in both worlds".

Venugopal said the production was "one of the most fun things" she had taken on in her career due to the audience interaction.

"You get to look into the audience, talk to them directly and also see how they're responding," she said. "In other shows that fourth wall is not broken."

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