PAPER 8

DANCES AND DANCE DRAMAS OF SOUTH EAST ASIA MASK DANCES OF SOUTH EAST ASIA /ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES FOR PERFORMING ARTS (DANCE) DANCE THERAPY

MODULE 27 DANCE AS SEEN IN THE FILMS

There is a close link between films and dance. Apart from the explanation of this drawing on the Natyashastric model, there was another reason. And that is, that in its early days, the film industry was looked at in a negative manner and so women did not join it. In fact history has it on record that although he tried, Dada Saheb Phalke/दादा साहेफ पारके , the director of Harishchandra/याजा हरयशचॊद्र was unable to even get a “ girl” interested in playing the role of Taramati/तायाभती in the film. That is why the earliest films have males enacting the roles of women characters.

The first women to join films came from the professional singing women community, the tawaifs and the Devadsis, who were trained in dance and music. Among the conditions that disempowered their traditional way of life was the social morality issue that resulted in the demand for banning the ‘Nautch”. The British period was a dark period for the tawaifs as due to the fact that the British had no understand of the refined poetry or the music and dance that they performed saw them only as sex workers. Further with the abolition of zamindari system, the local support that they enjoys was also

1 denied to them. Some struggled to find domestic bliss, others slipped into commercial sex work and some found other way to employ their talents. The tawaifs and often got re- inscribed as performance artistes by the gramophone recording companies and the Film industry. Often the same artistes, basically the ones who were proactively embracing modernity, crossed over from being a recorded artiste and a film artiste.

Even as they attempted to embrace modernity, they faced hurdles and found their options limited. For example, one of the first acts of the interim government of 1946 was to bar singers and musicians from the “” culture, which was described by David Lelyveld as “anyone whose private life was a public scandal.” To an extent the nationalist discourse continued replicating certain logics of exclusion, like in the case of courtesan women, around the idea of a national culture. Further, Partha Chatterjee in his essay,’ The Nation and its Women’, has argued that the inner (domestic) domain of women became invested with the urgency of preserving the sanctity of national culture. At the same time, the nationalist discourse was trying to purify itself of bad influences like the courtesan women, that is why the nationalist movement found its early expressions in the form of social reform programmes, such as the antinatch campaigns, through which the richly diverse and stratified group of courtesan women was reduced into a homogenous group which was a threat to the wellbeing of the society. People like , Madame Menaka, , and Vishnu Bhatkhande all played a major role in this project.

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Yet in initially, in the early 20th century, one found an increasing prominence of women from a courtesan background in the cinema and gramophone industries. Their journey was not easy. In fact ’s film Bhumika/बूमभका captures this aspect and ’s role as Usha is a fictionalized version of what was happening. Thus, while the film industry opened its arms to embrace several former tawaifs and devadasis, including M. S. Subbulakshmi who went on to be awarded a Bharat Ratna later. Subhalakshmi acted in a Tamil film called “Sevasadanam” about the child bride of an older man, in 1938. She also acted in several other films including meera made in Tamil in 1945 and in in 1947.

Possibly Subhalakshmi’s success despite her origins, stemmed from the fact that she had successfully migrated into a domestic space, for ’s whole modern project has been founded on the gender make up of chaste womanhood. There was a similar project in the Bombay film industry- that too got turned middle class and got made respectable, accounting for an early marginalisation of women from such a background.

Another example was that of Jaddan Bai/जद्दन फाई, a well-known who moved from singing to acting in films and thereafter, direction. Jaddan bai is the mother of the actress . She later began acting when the Play Art Photo Tone Company of Lahore approached her for a role in their movie Raja Gopichand/याजा गोऩीचॊद in 1933. She played the role of the mother of the title character. Later she worked for a Karachi based film company, in Insaan ya Shaitan/इन्सान मा शैतान She worked in two

3 more movies, Prem Pariksha/प्रेभ ऩयीऺा and Seva Sadan/सेवा सदन , before starting her own production company called Sangeet Films. The company produced Talashe Haq/तराशे हक़ in 1935, in which she acted and composed the music. She also introduced her daughter Nargis as a child artist. In 1936 she acted in, directed, and wrote the music for Madam Fashion. One dancer who was very much in the forefront of shearing the stigma of the culture from dance was madam Menaka. Menaka changed the face of what came to be known as of today, by taking away any reflections of the Tawaif culture’s association with the art, including items from its repertoire an also its musical scape, especially its long association with the sarangi. This sort of attitude left the Devadasis with no options but to take to other forums especially movies.

Yet, just as the tawaifs and devadasis were struggling to find a foot hold in films, one of the most severe baiters, Madame Menaka became the first to dance on screen when she performed in The Tiger of Eschnapur (1938, Germany) and a British documentary, Temples of India. Menaka, the stage name for Leila Sokhey in real life, was said to have transformed the maligned tawaif’s nautch into the respectable Kathak. In 1930s, when women dancing in public was stigmatised as ‘prostitutes’, this Brahmin was refashioning the dance of Avadh’s storytellers through performances in Europe and Southeast Asia. Few among the patriarchal practitioners gave her credit for this when she died (1947), perhaps because what she presented to foreigners was a generic, kind of

4 aesthetics that had greater kinship with Javanese dancing than with Achhan Maharaj of . However, that could be why German director Richard Eichberg, in search of Oriental exotica, excerpted her productions Leela and Dev Vijaya Nritya, complete with her costumes.

DANCERS AS ACTORS Classical dancers as protagonists posed two problems to filmmakers. One: while many actors (even after playback singing was introduced) could sing, not many were dancers. Secondly, as part of the Modernity project of India, by 1947, when India became independent, women dancers had fallen into disrepute and classical dance was a male preserve. Many films reflected that- Geet Gaya Patharon ne/गीत गामा ऩथ्थयोने”, Jal Bin machhali, Nritya Bin Bijli/जर

बफन भछरी नत्ृ म बफन बफजरी , Mughal-e-Azam/भुग़र-ए-आज़भ, Pakeeza/ऩाकीज़ा, Guide, /तीसयी कसभ , /देवदास, based on the story of professional dancing women or their daughters were the subject of the film.

To overcome this hurdle, actresses like , Kumari or Nargis - not raised in dance like , or - had a pristine guru in say a and , an unsurpassed devotee of classicism in films, tweaking ragas and choreographies to highlight portrayal. It was Lacchu Maharaj who choreographed the ‘Thade rahiyo’ number in “Pakeeza”. Saheb Bibi

Ghulam/साहेफ फीफी औय गुराभऺ presented the other side of the story,

5 where even upper-class husbands confined wives to the ‘andar- mahal’ – inner courtyard - as child-bearing machines, rather than be a friend, confidante and mistress. An anguished Chhoti Bahu () revolts against this, in vain: her husband spurns her companionship for that of a naachnewaali who sings ‘Saqiyaa aaj mujhe neend nahin aayegi’. Minu never bettered this Odissi-inspired number that oozed enough sensuality to be a precursor of today’s item songs.

DANCING PROTAGONISTS

Two names outshine all others: Vaijayantimala and Waheeda Rehman. At age 5, Vaijayanti had performed for Pope Pius XII and had her arangetram at 13. She learnt under Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai, and too. She was already famous in Tamil films when she debuted in” Bahar/फहाय” (1951). She brought the film to life with her dances that were new for north Indians. Her dances were the saving grace of “/रड़की”. Man dole re in “Nagin/नागगन’ (1954) let loose a string of innocent ‘tribal’ belles, the most successful being “/भधुभती” (1958). Before that, though, Vaijayanti had graduated from being a ‘dancer’ to an ‘actress’ in “Devdas/देवदास” (1955) where, ironically, she played a fallen woman who gives up dancing.

The social attitude towards dancers can be gauged from the furor unleashed by choosing to cast Vaijayanti as

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Chandramukhi. But her reputation as dancer mixed with her evolution as a woman who sacrifices her career for love won sympathy, admiration, universal love. It marked her rise from glamour to histrionic heights - without sacrificing her dance. Roy himself tapped it again in Madhumati. The ravishing beauty, seen in three incarnations, mesmerized as the twinkle-toed , the tribal who knew every tree in the jungle and could beat the ‘Paapi Bichhua’ at its own game.

Salil Chowdhury’s deathless melody drew upon folk rhythms, showcasing Vaijayanti’s versatility as dancer. By then, she’d also assisted puppeteer in Amiya Chakravarty’s Kathputli/कठऩुतरी (completed on his death by in 1957) - and performed folk dances and street dances to ‘Bakad bam bam’ and ‘Bol ri kathputli’. She’d danced to the modern beats in ‘Aaja tu raja’ in “Raj Tilak/याजततरक” (1958), which encashed her real-life rivalry with Padmini (who moved to classical mudras). She’d agreed to a sawaal-jawab with in “Dr Vidya” (1962) when and Asha Bhonsle crooned ‘Aay haay dilruba’. She bid goodbye to the dual role of dancer-actress with “/आम्रऩारी

“(1966). Padmini, Lalita and , known as the sisters, and disciples of Guru Gopinath and Mahalingam Pillai, featured in Tamil, Telugu, , and Hindi films. Padmini alone participated in some 250 films, against stalwarts MGR, N T Rama Rao, , and . Few, though, harnessed her talent and beauty to a character rooted in dance. This, though she

7 started with Uday Sankar’s “Kalpana/क쥍ऩना”. She gave her best to what came her way. Even “Jis Mein Ganga Behti Hai/जजस देश भᴂ गॊगा फहती है ” showcased little of her dance. Her most famous remains “Thillana Mohanambal” (Tamil) where a dancer competes against a musician to see who is better, and “Pardesi/ऩयदेसी”, based on a Russian’s travelogues.

Although boasts dance-based films “Kinara/ककनाया”,

“Abhinetri/अमबनेत्री” and” Mrig Trishna/मम्रगतष्ृ णा”, shed continues to dance onstage. Her training in Bharat Natyam is by Kittapa Pillai, in Kuchipudi by Vempati Cihinna styam. She directed and starred in the television serial Noopur/नूऩुय, in which she played the role of a Bharat natyam dancer.

One of the actresses best remembered as dancer-actress is Waheeda Rehman. She was trained in Bharat Natyam first by Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and then by Jayalaxmi Alva. “Guide”, “Teesri Kasam/तीसयी कसभ”, “Neel Kamal/नीर कभर” were her memorable films. As Rosy in “Guide” (1966) she got the dream role of a tawaif’s daughter who gives up her passion as it is unacceptable to her husband, but she returns to dance rather than remain a dutiful wife to a philanderer. Brothers Sohanlal and Hiralal had choreographed a range of dances to etch Rosy, but the spontaneous snake dance in the market was the cherry on the cake.

Waheeda consolidated her position by playing Hirabai in “Teesri Kasam” (1966). In the film the icon of innocence, Raj Kapoor, playing the role of a bullock cart driver, beats up people who see her as a

8 prostitute. He admires her ‘Paan khaay sainya’ and ‘Maare gaye gulfaam’ acts, leaves his savings with her, and simply cannot put up with the nonsense the zamindar/ज़भीनदाय subjects her to. She, on her part, cannot give up her life as ‘company ki bai’ to become Hiraman’s ‘devi’. Even the folksy dancing numbers were choreographed by Lachhu Maharaj. An accomplished dancer, Waheeda Rehman later stated that “an actor doesn’t have to be a dancer.

But because our movies have so many song-and-dance sequences, it’s advantageous if they are.” In today’s scenario, Classical or semi- classical numbers are hardly seen in our films though India still dances at the birth of a child, at marriages, at Holi, Valentine’s, New Year’s Eve, even Durga pujas. But now, they dance to Westernized movements, choreographed with much hip-swinging. In the age of MTV, who cares for footwork, parans, chakkars or mudras?

POP GOES THE

Today the lead players perform with a supporting troupe, not to reinvent the Greek ‘chorus’ (commenting on the action) but to add visual volume a la Broadway musicals. This has increased the eroticism of commercial films - which have large overseas market. It is this dance that has given rise to what the world identifies as dance. This admixture of styles bows to salsa, tango, belly-dancing and ballet as to Indian folk and tribal traditions. If ‘Awara hoon’ was once the national song of USSR, today ‘Shaiva shaiva’ is chic in Germany, Spain, US, Canada. Dance schools are teaching movements choreographed by , Shiamak Dawar,

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Farah Khan, and . And new age dance films like “Aaja Nachle/आजा नचरे” are tapping on dance not as ‘add on’ to market a film but central to the script. , is trained in Kathak and known for Saroj Khan’s hit numbers for “/तेजाफ”, “Khal Nayak/खरनामक” and “Devdas”, and Shiamak Dawar’s in “/ददर तो ऩागर है ”. In “Aaja Nachle”, she played a choreographer who returns from New York to her hometown, a decaying Shamli, to save a deserted dance theatre about to give way to a shopping mall. She puts together a rag-tag group to enact Laila Majnu but ‘Show me your jalwa’ or ‘Dance with me’ - the dance numbers they put up - became favorite at clubs and marriages.

THE MODERN DAY CHOREOGRAPHER IS KING

Westernized dancing to Hinglish lyrics became a trend after “Dil To Pagal Hai” (1998), revolving around dance troupe members Rahul, Nisha and Pooja. Nisha loves Rahul who loves dance, but when Nisha has an accident, he searches a dancer to save his dream project, Maya. Enter Pooja, a role played by Madhuri, who shimmers in the role. Chopra exemplified how India’s mainstream adapts new formats without alienating tradition - and established the choreographer as a star.

Shiamak Davar won the National Award and went on to choreograph the dance-centric “Taal/तार”, about an artist who is spurned because she’s a dancer, then worshipped when she’s a star. It showcased Aishwarya Rai as a dancer with commendable grace. He

10 choreographed “/यफ ने फनादी जोड़ी” around a dance contest that pitted Shah Rukh against as both, husband and dance partner.

Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” inspired , daughter of a stunt filmmaker, to turn choreographer with “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar/जो जीता वोही मसकॊदय”. With “Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa/कबी हाॉ कबी ना” she befriended Shah Rukh and turned director, making “/ओभ शाजन्त ओभ” (among others) with engaging characters and whacky numbers. Farah achieved global recognition with Monsoon Wedding, where she projected Generation-X’s passion for modern dancing even at traditional Punjabi weddings.

Vaibhavi Merchant, grand-daughter of yester year Kathak dancer and choreographer Hiralal, is trained in Indian and Western dance. This showed in her choreography for ‘Nimbooda nimbooda’ in “/हभ ददर दे चुके सनभ ”, winning her a National Award. Her sensitive stances and delicate movements could be discerned in her numbers for Bhansali’s Devdas, despite the presence of bigger names like Saroj Khan and .

‘’, where Devdas’s Paro and dance in harmony, testifies to Saroj Khan’s significance. It’s a number perfectly envisioned for the camera, the editing table, and the fans of such powerful dancers like Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. After envisioning 2000 numbers since she stepped out on her own with

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Seeta Aur Geeta/सीता औय गीता, came into limelight with ‘Ek do teen’, teased with ‘Choli ke peechey’, ‘ kaahe na bole’, ‘Kajrare kajrare’, and won 3 National Awards, including one for “Shringaram/श्रीन्गायभ”, a film based on the story of the Devadasi way of life, where she choreographed classical dance.. Eventually, she was invited even by ’s purist dance organisation, Srikrishna Gaana Sabha/श्रीकिष्णगान सबा!

ITEM DANCE

Bollywood dancing would not be complete without a mention of Helen, who represented a genre that’s now dubbed ‘.’ Helen, with Cuckoo before her, and , Aruna , Silk Smita and afterwards, provided the erotic component of Hindi. The tradition-bound Indian society wouldn’t flock to see a heroine being immodest, accounting for the growth in significance of the item number. ‘Bidi jalai le’, ‘Shiela’ and ‘Munni’ are storming the world. Helen’s cabaret scenes, much like the tawaif in the kotha, were innocuous ways of throwing in a dance that was not integral to the story. Born to Anglo-Indian father and Burmese mother, Helen joined films to supplement her nurse mother’s salary.

She was introduced by Cuckoo - the ‘Rubber Girl’ of 1940-50s with whom she danced duets in “Yahudi/महूदी” and “Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi/चरती का नाभ गाड़ी” (1958). But after ‘Mera naam Chin Chin Chu’ in “Howrah Bridge”, 1957, Helen was flooded with offers that saw her reign through 1960-70s.

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Today there is no need for a tawaif or cabaret dancer, as the heroine’s themselves dance boldly, suggestively, sensuously. These dances are essentially aimed at the males but young girls too see them as “cool.” ‘’ was a runaway hit though “Tees Maar Khan/तीस भाय खान ” was “the worst film ever”; ‘’ made a household figure while Dabbang entered 1-crore club. crooned about her ‘Halkat Jawani (Dabbang 2) and challenged men to paste her picture on their heart –“Fevicol se”!

DANCE LIKE A MAN

Pamela Rooks used Mahesh Dattani’s play to look at men who choose a line of study that’s discordant with conventional expectations. And at women who’ll stop at nothing to realise their dream. Although dance has been a male prerogative in Classicaldom, it acquired a cool quotient in Indian films when , inspired by Elvis Presley, unleashed his frenetic, jerky gestures in “Kashmir Ki Kali/काश्भीय की करी” (1964), “Junglee/जॊगरी (1961), Dil

Deke Dekho/ददर देके देखो (1959), Tumsa Nahin Dekha/तुभसा नहीॊ देखा (1957).

Before him there was . Despite his asthma, this nephew of had learned Kathak from and Bharatanatyam from Mahalingam Pillai. In 1952, at 17, he became the youngest choreographer and created for generations starting with Madhubala and coming down to in “Umrao Jaan/उभयाव

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जान”. , who started as a child artiste, turned hero with a dance sequence in “Maanavan/भानवन” (1970). And Birju Maharaj’s choreography turns him into a Kathak teacher in his latest, Viswaroopam/ववश्व셂ऩभ. Kamal’s sister Nalini Raghu was a dance teacher, Kamal himself had married Bharatanatyam danseuse Vani Ganapathy. When he danced the classical gestures in Sagarasangamam with Jayaprada, or in Hindi Ek Duje Ke Liye/एक दजू े के मरमे, he not only won the National award, he inspired a whole generation to look at classical Indian dance as “cool.”

Prabhu Deva, born to dance-master Sundaram, says he’s “an average actor, above-average dancer.” He’s being modest: The “boneless wonder” is considered the latest avatar of Natraj. And not without reason: he can break into a jig without dropping his hat or his demeanor. Having learnt Bharatanatyam, and idolizing , he revolutionized choreography in southern films before turning to acting and eventually direction. Now his is a national rage. Whistling viewers can only hope to copy his near- impossible dance steps without cracking a bone. Body worship became a ‘religion’ when came on the Indian screen. The Greek god electrified the concept of body beautiful with not only his sensational six packs but, more, through his quicksilver footwork. “I don’t want to do anything that’s been done before,” he told choreographer Farah Khan before his debut in Kaho Naa... Pyar Hai/कहो ना प्माय .है It surely made his dance special.

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Such is his reputation today that no actor wants to dance with him on screen. Having cast a spell on women and men, his nimble movements and fluid grace molded him into a dance teacher in Kites.

WHEN RAY DANCED

Satyajit Ray made Jalsaghar/जरसागय (1958) because he desperately needed a hit. He chose a literary piece that could incorporate music and dance. It established his international reputation since, as wrote, "It challenged the whole convention of songs and dances in India cinema. Audiences... Conditioned to seeing these interludes as dramatic and romantic stresses, had never before been confronted with...classical singing and dancing as integral focal points of realistic sequences."

It unfolds around a 1920’s zamindar who, to fob off an upstart contractor, pawns his family jewels and hosts lavish concerts to recreate the crumbling opulence of his music room. Ray worked closely with and got to sing for a sequence and to dance in another. For half of the eight-minute sequence, the camera watches long- and midshot the explosive nritta of the vigorous - danseuse who was born to Zohrabai Ambalewali. Apart from the contrast with the abhinaya-based of popular cinema, this offered the poetry of pure dance, footwork, spins et al. Compared to the nazakat of Lucknow Kathak one would witness in Shatranj Ke Khiladi/शतयॊज के खखराड़ी (1977), this was austere. But the rhythmic wizardry and unmistakable technical prowess made it a gleaming finale fit for

15 connoisseurs. Twenty years later Ray returned to Kathak for his invocation of ’s Awadh/अवध which, at its zenith, was described as India’s Paris. Though slow-paced, Birju Maharaj’s captivating choreography to ‘Kanha tose main haari’ highlighted the delicacy and lyricism of Lucknow Kathak and brought fame to Saswati Sen.

In between, Ray experimented with an eerie, psychedelic burst of dancing in Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne/गोऩी ज्ञ्ने फाघा ब्य्ने (1969). Goopy the singer and Bagha the drummer are untalented musicians whose playing provoke ridicule from the peasants and contempt from the king. But it appeals to the upside-down aesthetics of ghosts, and their charmed king blesses them with three boons: they’ll feed to their heart’s content, they’ll travel where they want to, and their music will cast a spell on their listeners. Adapting grandfather kishore’s story, Ray himself designed the music, costumes and choreography. The dead come alive when Goopy-Bagha play, and perform a surreal dance that pantomimes an allegory of India's history. The dance in four segments, a phantasmagoria of styles and moods, now evokes Baul/फाऊर fakirs, now the sepoys, now British lords, now the Babus. In this treatment it mocks class pretensions.

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