The star of Beyond Bollywood Mohit Mathur has said he is "psyched" about the prospect of performing on the West End stage.
Described as a journey through India, written, directed, produced and choreographed by Rajeev Goswami, Beyond Bollywood will receive a 60-day run at the prestigious London Palladium.
Explaining how he won the lead role of Raghav, Mathur, who first came to prominence as a finalist on TV reality show India's Dancing Superstar, told Digital Spy: "I've been in Mumbai the last two years. I just got a call from my friend that there's an audition happening for a West End musical and I thought, 'I'll just go ahead and see if I can do it'.
"So basically I'm a trained jazz dancer - I auditioned and it started from there.
"Last year we went to London for a different show and I saw other musicals there and I was like, 'Dude, I want to be there. When will I get a chance to be on the West End stage?' I saw Wicked and I thought, 'Maybe some day, I'll be there on the other side of the audience'.
"[In] the next two months I got a call from Rajeev saying, 'We're going to the West End'. I went crazy."
What to Read Next
Describing the daily training and rehearsals for the show, Mathur said the dancers do "ten hours for acting, making changes, improvising. With dancing, again its 1pm to 10pm, a warm-up, then we go into our full session. We also have kathak training in the morning for one hour."
Mathur revealed a personal highlight of the show is his solo performance, saying: "There's the part where I do my solo for 'Bismillah'. It's Kailesh Kher's number. I just wait for that song to come."
Anticipating performing at the Palladium, he said: "The West End is one thing that we all look forward to.
"People in India aren't aware of the grandeur of the West End, but we are pretty psyched about it. It's beautiful. It's fantastic and grand."
The talented performer said that the journey of the show's central character reflects his own.
"Beyond Bollywood is about following your dream and following your heart, and that's what the tagline is - follow your dreams," he added. "This show has allowed me to follow my dreams."
The lavish production features original music by award-winning composers Salim-Sulaiman, with lyrics penned by Iqbal lyricist Irfan Siddiqui.
Beyond Bollywood comes to London on May 8 for its UK premiere. Tickets are available at the official website.
Watch a trailer for Beyond Bollywood below:
