Merchants of Bollywood brings all the colour, life and wonderful cheesiness of Indian Bollywood productions to Shanghai.

Bollywood is coming to Shanghai, bringing with it a voluptuous and headstrong daughter struggling against tradition, a divinely handsome childhood sweetheart, a dying grandfather and a family feud with Bollywood at its core.

Merchants of Bollywood is an epic tale tracing the history of the Bollywood film industry, and is named after two renowned choreographers, Hiralalji Merchant and his granddaughter Vaibhavi Merchant.

It centres on a feud between a woman called Ayesha and her grandfather, Shantilal.

Both are well-known in Bollywood, but whereas Shantilal wants to preserve the traditions of the Kathak dance – the dance of the gods – Ayesha is a modern dance fanatic. As Shantilal lies on his deathbed, Ayesha is faced with a big decision. Does she return to the big smoke of Mumbai, or stay in her hometown to run her grandfather’s school?

Of course, when the sultry Uday, her childhood sweetheart, appears on the scene, the decision is easier to make.

The storyline is a blur of fiction and reality. As well as being the show’s namesake, Vaibhavi Merchant is also the production’s choreographer, and the audience is left wondering how much of her experience has lent itself to the story.

Merchants of Bollywood is the brainchild of writer/director Toby Gough, who has years of experience with cross-cultural shows. From an opera in Sarajevo, to an African version of Julius Caesar, to former TALK covergirl, Kylie Minogue in The Tempest on a beach in Barbados, Gough’s works suggest he’s more than capable of putting on a great Bollywood spectacular.

Gough has said the idea came to him over a tikka masala and beer at an Indian restaurant in New Zealand. Surrounded by television screens of glamorous heroines, dancing in the rain in fabulous costumes, he says, a Bollywood musical was born.

Unfortunately it doesn’t feature Kylie Minogue.

Merchants of Bollywood shows at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Lu, Pudong, from 5–7 October. Tickets: RMB 80–880. Web: www.culture.sh.cn and merchantsofbollywood.com.au