sign in sign up
<<
Home , Birju Maharaj, Chandralekha (dancer), Dadasaheb Phalke, Damayanti Joshi, Devika Rani, Gopi Krishna (dancer)

PAPER 4

Detail Study Of , Girls, Nritta, , Different -s, Present Status, Institutions, Artists

Module 25 Kathak In Films

Kathak has been easily and freely assimilated in mainstream cinema. This has been possible due to language outreach (//Punjabi/Awadhi/Bhojpuri) and also due to cultural closeness of the subject.

Kathak was story-telling in temples and thus the same devise has been easily adapted in Hindi films. The stories of nautch dancers, or tawaifs, or or, classical dancers have all added to body of film works. The first full-length feature film made in - Harish Chandra - used north Indian minimally and Kathak being from north and central India, had easy access and viewership. This 1913 Indian was directed and produced by Indian icon Dadasaheb Phalke. The film had an all-male cast as no woman was available for playing female leads. Phalke struggled to get women, including nautch girls, to agree to act in the film. He hence had to cast a delicate- looking man Anna Salunke/अꅍना साल Ԃके to play the role of Queen Taramati, Harish Chandra’s wife. Phalke discovered Salunke, who used to work in a restaurant as a cook, for this role. Salunke would later play the role of both and in

1

Phalke’s 1917 film Dahan and become the most popular actor of his time.1

The plethora of mythological films introduced a different slant to the use of music and in Hindi cinema. As the formula for romantic and soulful rendition of song and a simplistic dance number by the heroine could not apply to the gods and goddesses of mythology, such films required greater emphasis on dance. Most heroes or heroines could not dance and the notion of choreography did not exist. Consequently, studios contracted trained classical dancers from different parts of the country. Interestingly, the initial dances in films were by the best dancers in the country who conceptualized and choreographed for them. Directors gave the dancers basic instructions and guidelines and song and dance numbers with elaborate sets and costumes were posturized to add to the fantasy of ‘Devlok’ or ‘Indralok.’

Trained classical dancers such as Sitara and later Gopi and western style dancer Azoorie kicked off the popularity of the classical dance form in Hindi films. These dancers were so popular that the film posters highlighted “dances by .” Dance masters such as Prof. More often composed these elaborate stage dances. As dancing became more popular the need for dance masters and later choreographers was felt. Azoorie, one of the popular dancers of the very early days, trained two boys Surya Kumar and Krishna Kumar who in turn started training actors to dance to their own tunes. Choreographers such as P. L. Raj, Satyanarayan,

2

Badriprasad and a host of others came in then.2 The era of dance started in Hindi films with the entry of trained dancing actresses , and from the south. In any film featuring these actresses there would definitely be dance! 1940s: ’s seminal film Kalpana, the first fully choreographed film released in 1948 also had portions on Kathak. The story of this film was based on dance. This reached out to many as the film had a national release. S.S. Vasan’s had choreography by Tarun Chopra, a disciple of Uday Shankar. too used Kathak sequences in his films, making it internationally popular. is special because she showcased the Uday Shankar dance style in film two years before Kalpana was released. That film was (1946, Hindi), and her contribution was two beautiful dances (a "twin" and "trio" dance) with graceful side sways, undulations, arm positions, and hand gestures that look directly inspired by the Uday Shankar style as evidenced from extant footage of Kalpana. Her daughter Kiran Sehgal’s book Fatty sheds some light on the influence Zohra had on dance through her training of everyone associated with Prithvi Theatres. Kiran notes that students, Suresh Bhatt and Satyanarayan, later went on to give dance direction in films, and she also lists Badnam (directed by DD Keshav) as one of Zohra's film choreographies. Kiran notes that the female dancers identified in the credits of Neecha Nagar, Ruma Ganguly and Gopa , were students of Zohra at Prithvi Theatres!3

3

Kathak soon gained currency in mainstream Hindi cinema of Bombay and many dancers were trained in Kathak like Sadhona Bose, , Waheeda , Kumari, Sandhya Shantaram among others. Sadhona Bose was a contemporary of Uday Shankar. A classically trained dancer (Kathak dance under Taraknath Bagchi and Manipuri under Senarik ) Tough Sadhona was an actress she was a dancer first and all her film successes were in dancing roles. She even sang her own songs in some of her films including her first Alibaba. An English version of her best-known film, Raj Nartaki (1941) was distributed in the USA as Court Dancer.

1950s: Most of the Kathak found in Indian films tends toward the / style of Kathak with a focus on abhinaya (expressive interpretation), lyrical poetry, and a slower pace to show off the dancer's feminine charms. In cases where the pace quickens to feature footwork and spins, the dances still aren’t up to par and the dancer's lack of lengthy Kathak training usually shows (or in the case of Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, the dancer - - is clearly trained but "spices up" the dance for film so much that it strays from classical Kathak). Film Kathak often features close-up shots of the dancer’s footwork, but it’s almost always a shadow of the real thing. There are a few film dances, however, that are gleaming exceptions to the rule in their presentation of rhythmic, technical Kathak, and the star of this style is undoubtedly Kumari . Roshan’s dance style was certainly a product of her training in the gharana of Kathak. In the 1959 Bengali film Jalsagar directed by , Roshan performs a

4

"trivet," a fast-paced dance item popular in the Jaipur style but rarely performed today. In the historical film Mirza Ghalib (Hindi, 1954) set in the time of the “magnificence of the court of the last Mughal” the story follows the romance of the Indian poet Mirza Ghalib and a dancer who was played by Roshan. is said to have danced in quite a few Bengali and Hindi films, one of which was Basant Bahar (Bengali, 1957). In (Hindi, 1953), we have a double- whammy with Roshan Kumari and Gopi Krishna as performers! Gopi Krishna wowed with his effortless turbo-spins and Roshan had delightful form in the way she holds herself.4

V. Shantaram made films based on dance characters as his own partner Sandhya, whom he married later, was an accomplished folk dancer knowing many classical forms; thus many of his films from Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1955) to Jal Bin Machchli Nritya Bin Bijalee (1971) used Kathak heavily. The latter film had a plot which allows almost everyone to declare their willingness to sacrifice themselves for love, or for dance, or for the love of dance. Though earlier Sandhya had almost given up dancing because of backache, she staged a comeback as a dancer in this picture with a vengeance. Her snake dance, beautifully shot outdoors, is a visual delight.

One must remember where, when and how dance came in films! Each film had minimum of 6 to 8 songs (RPM and LP vinyl records had two sides and each side had 3 to 4 songs) thus, each film had 6-8 songs and most songs had to be danced or enacted to a storyline. Thus films gave allowance for such

5

depiction through song and dance, thus also earning the sobriquet from international cinema community (and audiences) that Indian films were all “song and dance” story or sequence, which could also be demonstrated by dance. As Kathak was the only north Indian form, it became very popular and thus won instant audiences. Folk forms were also very easily involved and thus dance permeated all aspects of film making.

1960s: Many actresses came from and brought with them; and this also helped pan Indian audiences see this form. By then the Bombay had benefit of great like Lachchu Maharaj, Kundanlal Gangani, Mohanrao Kalyanpurkar who composed dance sequences using Kathak.

Pandit Lachchu Maharaj of the gharana made a significant contribution to Hindi film choreography. The first main film using story of a dancer - a courtesan - was Mughal-E-Azam (1960), in which the great K. Asif used who danced mostly Kathak, composed by Lachchu Maharaj and . Mughal-e-Azam enchanted audiences with its majestic sets, elaborate dance sequences and soulful music. The dance sequences featuring Madhubala and hundreds of junior artistes took the audience’s breath away. Anarakali was a nautch dancer with whom young prince Salim (played by a young alias Yusuf ) falls in love much to the dislike of his father, the King, played by theatre doyenne Prithiviraj Kapoor.

6

Pakeezah was another film choreographed by Pt. Lachchu Maharaj with elaborate Kathak dance sequences. The film tells the story of a Lucknow played by actress . All the Kathak dance sequences were performed by an ailing Meena Kumari herself except for the last dance sequence wherein a body double () was used in the long- shots. Meena Kumari died weeks after the film was released.

The cameraman and director K. Asif Khan later married well known Kathak dancer Sitara Devi. From when she was just 12, Sitara Devi performed dance sequences in Hindi movies like her debut in Usha Haran (1940), Nagina (1951), Roti, Vatan (1954), Anjali (1957). In (1957), she performed a dance dressed as a boy. After that, she stopped performing dances in movies to concentrate on Kathak. She taught Kathak to many celebrities like Madhubala, , and .

Sohanlal also introduced Kathak in Hindi films. He was also one of the first teachers of today’s superstar choreographer . His brother Hiralal also took up the profession of choreography and was an established dance director himself. Sohanlal’s hit films included , Chaudvin Ka Chand, Saheb Bibi Aur Ghulam and Satyam Shivam Sundaram.

1970s: Gopi Krishna, a nephew of Sitara Devi, rose to establish Kathak in a big way in films. He added immensely to the Kathak profile and outreach. Although he came and himself performed

7

in festive songs like on Holi or village fair, he soon became a popular choreographer and did many films. One of his dancing partners was Padma Khanna and she too became established as Kathak dancer in films, in addition to doing character or cameo roles. Gopi Krishna was born into a family of Kathak dancers. His maternal grandfather Sukhdev Maharaj was a teacher of Kathak and his aunt Sitara Devi was a Kathak dancer who had performed around the world. In 1952, 17-year-old Gopi Krishna became one of the youngest choreographers in Hindi film history when he was hired to choreograph dances for Madhubala in Saqi. In 1955, he appeared as dancer-actor in his first film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. In the film he played Girdhar, a talented young dancer whose love for his partner jeopardizes his dancing career. Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje is filled with Gopi Krishna’s dances such as his famous introductory pirouette-pillar dance and his energetic with Sandhya. The film was successful and helped to revitalize public interest in classical dance. It is known that he danced with Roshan Kumari before that in Parineeta (1953) and he also danced in Aandhiyan (1952) in which he choreographed for himself.5

Gopi Krishna choreographed for many films like Grahasti (1963), Dastaan, Mehbooba, Umrao Jaan, Naache Mayuri (1986) and The Perfect Murder (1988). You'll notice in Gopi’s dance duets that he is usually paired with a female dancer who can keep up with him and possesses a similar in- born joy to her dance - lookalike , Vyjayanthimala, Kamala, Priyadarshini, Helen herself, and

8

Roshan Kumari. Only one dance of his exists with Kamala in1959’s Naach Ghar. Gopi Krishna was a prolific choreographer in Indian cinema. He composed the Sayee-Subbulakshmi Kathak duet in Bharosa (1963). His compositions featured ecstatic movements, sharp transitions, ample spins, and an almost super-human pace with movements inspired by classical dances particularly Kathak. While Gopi is listed as one of the choreographers for Umrao Jaan (1981), he only composed for one dance because the producers “were dissatisfied with Gopi's work after he composed the first number and wanted something more authentic” and soon hired the talented Kathak dancer, .6

All through this phase, the 1950s to 1980s, although there was Kathak and other forms, cabaret too was popular and no film was complete without one number by Helen or or . In fact, Helen made dances very popular without ever looking cheap. This woman singly won new audiences for dance, cabaret or Indian forms. She even competed with Vyjayantimala, a star from south, trained in Bharatanatyam, in a duet in the film Prince (1969) where Helen did jazz, flamenco and an Arabian Night’s routine, and Vyjayanthimala did Bharatanatyam, Kathak and along with apt changes in costume for the song Mukabala hum se na karo. Vyjayanthimala’s dances in and ’s in Guide were famous.

In the 1970s (father of Ekta and Tushar Kapoor) was called Jumping Jack due to his dancing and even before him

9

non-dancing stars like Dev , Dilip Kumar, danced few steps that looked like Kathak! Other classical forms were too difficult or alien for them to even try to do, though most undertook folk forms easily.

1990s: tried to use her basic knowledge of Kathak in films like and desired to learn from masters like Pt . He has directed, composed music and sung for two classical dance sequences in the film Shatranj Ke (The Chess Players) directed by Satyajit Ray. One was a group dance picturised on Wajid Ali Shah () shown dancing along with his queens. Birju Maharaj’s ace disciple Saswati Sen did all the court dances. The other was a solo dance forming the backdrop of a crucial sequence of the story. He directed and composed a music piece for the film Dil to Paagal Hai, as a jugalbandi. Madhuri Dixit performed the dance on this piece in the Kathak style, with a contemporary touch. In the film Gadar, he choreographed a group dance based on the song Milo Sajana, forming a backdrop to show Ameesha Patel’s turmoil. He choreographed, composed music for and was the male lead singer for the song Kahe chhed mohe in the film . This dance represents a true portrayal of bhava as performed by Madhuri Dixit, in the classical style. His disciples have performed as the accompanying artistes for these dance sequences, along with the film personalities. P.L. Raj, Bhagwan, Saroj Khani, , and others have added to the large body of work.

2000s: Audience tastes began to be changed by filmmakers who

10

began offering gymnastics by way of dance sequences largely because actresses were not trained in any one dance form properly and could not be bothered to learn one either! Thus, a new breed of starlets can only move like athletes and gymnasts and so choreographers too have devised easy movements. Though this has been the general trend, a few exceptions also exist, like Birju Maharaj choreographing for ’s Devdas featuring Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. Luna Pan, Debosmita , Pallabi De and Swati Ghosal, all students of Pt. Birju Maharaj have performed in the song Kahe chhed mohe composed by Birju Maharaj in Devdas. He was the winner of the National Award for Best Choreography (2013) for choreographing the song Unnai Kaanadhu Naan, which featured performing Kathak in his multilingual film, .

Kumudhini Lakhia is one of the very first women dancers to choreograph not only for the stage but also for films like Umrao Jaan (1981) and Sur Sangam. Based on the famous Lucknow courtesan, Umrao Jaan starred Bollywood actress Rekha in the main role. Director hired the best choreographers (Gopi Krishna and Kumudini Lakhia) and watching the film, one would be surprised to know that Rekha had no formal training in Kathak dance, which was the backbone of the movie based in that era. The courtesan was a well-trained Kathak dancer, hence Rekha went through training to master her dance sequences. In an interview Rekha confided, “In fact to be authentic in my dance movements, besides Gopi Krishnaji and Kumudini Lakhiaji, Muzaffar Ali had also invited

11

many of the bygone era, who were acquainted to the . These nawabs were exclusively called to closely monitor my Kathak steps and many a times they guided me and came up with valuable suggestions thus making my dance standout.''8

Thus Kathak gurus have not shied from composing for mainstream cinema, without sacrificing content for entertainment. In this new century, although Kathak is sort of marginalized in films (as are all classical forms) because old themes have given way to new, still focused directors like Muzaffar Ali make period films like Umrao Jaan. In his latest film Jaanisaar (2015), for one of the songs, lyrics were taken from the poetry of Wajid Ali Shah and Rahi Masoom Raza. The heroine of this period film is a courtesan played by Pernia Qureshi, a trained Kathak dancer.

Among TV documentaries made exclusively on Kathak, mention must be made of Sukhdev’s 1971 documentary featuring Roshan Kumari, Joshi, Sudarshan Dheer and Birju Maharaj. has done some documentation but nothing focused. SNA documents only those it awards! That way many have been left out. In recent decades, the highest TRP ratings on dance series on national TV was Mel made by Sharmistha and Ashish Khokar for Doordarshan.

Kathak as a genre has captured national imagination because of Hindi films in large way, just like in the 1940s Bharatanatyam

12

came to southern films. Many actresses were trained in classical dance, making it easy for them to absorb and learn quickly and prime example are Vyjayanthimala, and Rekha after the first generation of greats mentioned in opening paras. These leading ladies were adept in horse riding, swimming, tennis and classical dances! Talk of multi-tasking! Kathak has now become nationally known and accepted and in no small measure is the contribution of films and film makers, choreographers and composers.

13