'Monsoon Wedding' musical drops alcohol, kissing for Qatar run

A musical adaptation of 'Monsoon Wedding' starting Thursday in Qatar had to remove alcohol and kissing, but the hit film's director Mira Nair insists it has not lost its "soul".

One of the biggest made-in-India international hits, the 2001 film recounts the chaotic preparations for the Delhi wedding of an Indian girl to an Indian-American man.

The musical version of 'Monsoon Wedding' has already played in Berkeley, California.

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But just as its plot exposes cultural clashes when an extended Indian family comes together, bringing an adapted version to Qatar on the margins of the football World Cup has also meant some upheaval.

"With respect to Qatari society, we have made some adjustments that are superficial because we do not mean to offend anyone," Nair told AFP in an interview ahead of opening night.

Alcohol is largely banned and public displays of affection are also forbidden, leaving viewers in Islamic Qatar without some elements of a typical Punjabi celebration.

"But at the core, what you are seeing in the musical is what it is," the award-winning director said. "The soul is there. I will not touch the soul."