Cast members of Bombay Dreams at the conclusion of their opening night performance in New York last April. (AFP)

Another return of the native. Andrew Lloyd-Webber wants to restore his lavish, but trashed-by-critics Bollywood musical Bombay Dreams to its place of birth.

The musical, which premiered in London?s West End in June 2002, became the first Broadway show to be set in contemporary India and to feature music by an Indian composer, A.R. Rahman.

The composer of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera is looking at Mumbai for a production next year. All he needs is a venue.

The critics, especially in Broadway, were harsh, though the show, featuring two contemporary Bollywood institutions, Rahman, and Farah Khan as choreographer, ran successfully for two years in London, propped up by the NRI audience.

?How do you say ?mind-numbing bunk? in Hindi? I?d like to propose a new English-language synonym ? Bombay Dreams,? went the USA Today review. Washington Post called it ?a torrential downpour of showbiz clich??. ?Dosa-thin plot,? went another.

But Webber is obviously not disheartened. Nor does he think that the severest criticism will put Indians off his Western adaptation of Bollywood, as he has sent Kerry Comerford, general manager of his Really Useful Company in the Asia Pacific, to scout for a venue in Mumbai and take a look at the Indian market for musicals.

Comerford, who is in the city for a week from Monday, says the huge interest in the musical prompted them to think of India as a venue. ?I am talking to people. The initial response has been remarkable,? said Comerford, adding that it is too early to name any of the potential partners now.

She said that if the production does happen, which her company is hopeful of, it will take a year at the least.

But will Bollywood like to see itself reflected in a West End/ Broadway mirror? Especially a show that has been dubbed ?utter naan-sense?, ?a potato Ganesh with mustard?, ?untouchable and unwatchable?, and after Webber has been called ?a complete vindaloo-nie??

?The production will substantially be the same,? she said, but the cast would probably have several new faces, with the actors being chosen from the home country. ?It will require some re-visiting, as audiences here are exposed to this type of fare, so we have to see if they?ll want to see it live,? she added.

Farah Khan, who hopes that she will be retained as choreographer, also said it was premature to talk about fine-tuning.

The main problem, said Comerford, is finding a suitable place. ?We are looking at venues, but we haven?t ruled out temporary structures, either,? she said. ?In Mumbai, that seems to be the main problem.? She said that it was not so much about audience capacity as about the ?technical requirements? of mounting such a show.

She also added that her company did not have any unrealistic expectations. ?We are looking at defined season ? 6-12 weeks,? said Comerford, adding that then the show will go on to other Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia.

?We have come to open the market in India,? she said. If Bombay Dreams works out, it may open the gates to other Webber originals. The production would cost $7 million to launch in each country. Comerford is not ruling out other Indian cities. She will visit Delhi next week.

Though Bombay Dreams would be the first Webber original to be staged in India if the plans materialise, other Asian countries, especially the prosperous South-East Asian ones that opened up to the world much before India, have been hosting Webber?s works for long.