In my post last year about Dance in Early Indian Cinema, I had marveled at the technical advancements in Indian film dances from the 1930s like that in Raitu Bidda (1939), Chandrasena (1935), and Amrit Manthan (1934)—the last of which featured overhead camera "top shots" inspired by the famous Hollywood choreographer Busby Berkeley that frame the dancers in novel geometric patterns.
Recently I happened onto two more examples of the top shot technique in 1930s Indian film dance: Rajput Ramani (Hindi, 1936) and Rambayin Kaathal (Tamil, 1939)! This suggests the technique must have been fairly popular in Indian cinema at that time, and it's easy to see why it was so. Moving the camera away from the static, theatrical frontal position must have been awe inspiring in those days (and it still is today!)
Rajput Ramani (Hindi, 1936) - "Ayi Sakhi Kya Bahar" - Starting at :30, the number begins with an overhead shot of the hands of a circle of dancing women. The camera slowly rises, and then we see a level shot inside same dancing circle that gives the viewer a frame of reference. The number advances at 1:05 when the women individually spin inward and outward, and at 2:10 the extensions of the women's clothing as they spin create pinwheels! Like Amrit Manthan, Rajput Ramaniwas directed by V. Shantaram and produced by Prabhat Films, a renowned studio in its day known for its talented art department. Aren't the cuts to the audience watching the dance performance interesting. Their view is quite boring, but our view, thanks to the possibilities the camera creates, is mesmerizing!
What was dance in early Indian cinema like? It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I considered this question worthy of pursuing video evidence of. I had read how the vast majority of India's silent and early sound cinema was either lost or destroyed in fires with the teensy remainder securely locked up in places like the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) with occasional public screenings. Certainly not viewable anywhere online, I assumed. But I was wrong!
When I recently learned about IndiaVideo.org's lovely "Celebrating 100 Years of Bollywood" series (thanks Gaddeswarup for your comment!), I was thrilled to see publicity pictures from India's earliest silent cinema, Pundalik (1912), clips from the first official indigenous Indian feature film Raja Harishchandra (1913), and also pictures from India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931). I hadn't realized this year is the start of Indian Cinema's Centenary celebrations (meaning Indian cinema is in it's 100th year of "life" which will culminate in its 100th birthday in May 2013)!
Through recommend videos on the YouTube sidebar, I quickly learned that presumably non-professional YouTubers have uploaded Raja Harishchandra (1913, in the form of the 1967 National Film Archive documentary, D.G. Phalke, The First Indian Film Director1870-1944) and Kaliya Mardan (1919). Each upload looks absolutely authentic due to many scenes matching screencaps found at the NFAI and in books about silent Indian cinema. Both videos were uploaded in the past few months, and I assume it's not a coincidence that the NFAI just last month released a DVD of both films (Raja Harishchandra in partial form with only the surviving reels, and they added a third film, the 1931 Bengali silent, Jamai Babu). Perhaps as the DVD was in the making, some of the prints were "leaked" and folks outside of the official process uploaded them for public view? I'm curious if the DVD prints are different from what is online, especially since Kaliya Mardan looks like it came from a VHS tape with the tracking lines at the bottom. (Update 2019: Linked to new version of Kaliya Mardan.)
Raja Harischandra (1913)
Kaliya Mardan (1919)
As one would expect of me, I immediately noticed the dances in these films! In Raja Harishchandra, beginning about 36 minutes in a character (Tukaram?) begins playing what looks like hand cymbals and then an energetic group of men can be see moving down the street rhythmically moving from side to side and jumping up and down with religious devotion. I've been told they are dancing to a Bhajan which is a characteristic of the Bhakti movement. While this isn't quite meant to be a "dance" in and of itself, in Kaliya Mardan the dances, while in a devotional setting, are clearly and distinctly dance! Two unmistakable folk dances surrounding Krishna are in the film: one male-focused dance with sticks at 28:16 and the other a female-only dance at 35:40 with what appears to be tree branches, rope and/or sticks. There are also expressive depictions by the women starting at 31:15. I'm completely surprised to see such early filmic representations of dance!
(2021 Update: I am no longer updating this blog but hope you enjoy my older posts!) Bringing light to classical and traditional Indian dances in the cinema of India; unearthing rare archival clips and academic research on South Asian dance!
