Ambassadors to India from the land of song
ONLY MEN ALOUD YN BOLLYWOOD S4C, Saturday, 7.30pm (English subtitles)
IN THIS colourful programme, one of the world’s most prominent male choirs goes on a musical journey to the most populous city of India – Mumbai.
In Only Men Aloud yn Bollywood, the popular group and their conductor Tim Rhys-Evans spend a week immersing themselves in song and dance styles totally different to anything they’re used to.
The choir was founded in 2000 and its youngest and most recent member is Steffan Hughes. For him, the visit to Mumbai was a memorable journey.
“I joined Only Men Aloud about a month before the trip, so going to India as my first experience with the first crew was amazing,” says Stephen, 22, originally from Llandyrnog, Denbighshire.
“We had a bit of a shock at first because of the local people’s lifestyle. There are slums everywhere but everyone we met was so welcoming and friendly and we learnt so much out there.”
With the help of people with vast experience in the Mumbai film industry, Only Men Aloud will learn to dance and sing in a style typical of the world-famous Bollywood films. They will also take up the challenge of learning a new song in Hindi, composed by Rahul Pandey, a singer and composer who works in the Bollywood film industry.
Only Men Aloud also spent time working with Songbound, a charity that uses music to help deprived children in the city. Their aim is to put on a special performance for the local community. The rehearsals were a revelation for Steffan, who won the Urdd Bryn Terfel Scholarship in 2016.
“Working with children from Shindewadi School was amazing because we had to teach a Welsh song to the children and they taught us a Hindi song,” he explains.
“Our singing styles are so different but the children were enthusiastic and they understand that education is the best chance they have in life. It was fantastic to see they all had big dreams and it was a pleasure spending time with them.”
In addition, the choir visited the Indian Idol studio where one of the judges, Anu Malik, was captivated by a Welsh song. They then received dancing tips from another of the judges, Farah Khan, who has done choreography work with pop singers Kylie Minogue and Shakira as well as working on hundreds of Bollywood films.