Blog Hiatus, a Rare Simkie Photo, and Distinguishing Kuchipudi

Hello dear readers and friends!  Well...it has been some time since I have posted or updated this blog.  My how time flies!  Long overdue is a post letting folks know that this blog is on an indefinite hiatus.

My posts on this blog have always been fueled and energized by elation, joy, and excitement in the subject matter--purely felt and honestly channeled into writings in a medium that allowed me to share whatever bliss I was experiencing with likeminded people around the globe.   And I have never posted unless I felt that enthusiasm. For various reasons, some known and others unknown to me, my engagement and enthusiasm have waned, and in that mindset I simply can't post in the same way as I have in the past, at least in good conscience.

The blog is on an indefinite hiatus, and who knows what the future will bring.  I don't want to make any promises that I can't keep, a defect of which I have been guilty of in the past, though I've always had the best, though misguided, intentions!  Should the passion of my past return, I will certainly resume the little mini-research projects I call posts. :D

This blog really blossomed in late 2010, continued the exuberance through 2016, and had a last hurrah in 2017.  I am extremely proud of the work that I did, archived here, hopefully forever, for anyone to see, cherish, and enjoy.  I have had the great fortune of having certain posts graced with comments by famous dancers, academics, and family members of post subjects.  I have met, virtually and in real life, amazing people who have enriched my knowledge, shared my passions, and became my friends. I have disappointed a few, and perhaps treaded not very lightly into contentious and problematic topics and subjects in the history of dance, class, and politics in India. But, I hope that my genuine interest and sympathy for the "underdog" and marginalized has come through.

I realize that as time passes that more broken links, outdated videos, and web maintenance tasks left undone will cause the blog to become harder to use, and as I'm able I will try to keep things up to date.  The fonts aren't always easy to read, and the formatting is goofed up in places. But, please have patience in the meantime. And feel free to drop me a line with any requests to fix things!

So in the low pressure environment of this hiatus post, where I don't have to spend weeks gathering information, making connections, and extensively citing my sources, I thought it would be fun to browse through my draft posts that have never been published and pull out a couple bits of material to finally give it the light of day.

A Rare Photo of Simkie

Simkie, that elusive and mysterious French dance partner of Uday Shanker, most prolifically in the late 1920s and 1930s. I tried for some time to try to figure out a timeline of her later years and what happened to her.

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4 comments Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Simkie

Swapna Sundari Dancing in Kissaa Kursee Kaa (Hindi, 1977)

Today I was alerted to Anuj Kumar's days-old The Hindu article about the 1977 Hindi film Kissaa Kursee Kaa which reveals that the director used classical dance forms "performed by Swapna Sundari to anchor the narrative." Swapna Sundari! I always enjoy finding examples of famous dancers performing in cinema, and learning that the well known Kuchipudi and Vilasini Natyam dancer Swapna Sundari danced in a film was certainly surprising!

It's a controversial film for Swapna to have involved herself in. A scathing satirical and symbolic work spoofing the Indira Gandhi government, Kissaa Kursee Kaa (Tale of a Throne, aka Kissa Kursi Ka) was made during the turbulent period known as “the Emergency” when India's government declared a state of emergency ushering in a dark period in India’s modern history which saw basic freedoms and rights suspended. The print we see on YouTube is actually a remake of the original that was banned and never released and had all its prints destroyed by the government. After the Emergency was lifted, director Amrit Nahata reshot and released the film in 1977 (while The Hindu article and YouTube video list 1978, I've listed 1977 which is the date the Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema and many other articles list). The film has been in the news recently again after Nahata's son has demanded the original prints be returned or compensation be made. I would love to hear what Swapna's experience was in taking part in this film, but I've not been able to find any other mentions of it.

Raghavan?

While the dances are disappointingly underwhelming and brief (what a let down!), they are notable not only for being an uncommon example of South Indian dance being performed by trained dancers in a Hindi film but also featuring what looks like Kuchipudi dance movements. The male dancer is another rare sight whose identity I'm not sure of—according to a friend's translation, the film credits list Sudharshan Dheer and Raghavan as possibilities, and since the male dancer looks nothing like the late famous Kathak dancer Sudharshan Dheer, my guess is he must be Raghavan. I bet Sudharshan Dheer assisted with choreography especially the Kathak parts.

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8 comments Kuchipudi, Swapna Sundari

Film Classical Dances of Manju Warrier (She's Back!)

Manju Warrier (official website)

Manju Warrier is back and dancing in films again with a fantastic Kuchipudi-based dance in the Malayalam film Ennum Eppozhum released in March! I am beyond delighted. Some time ago I had remarked that Manju Warrier and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy were the only two impressive female classical dancers in recent Indian cinema. But Manju's problem was that she only danced in a few Malayalam films in the short years she was in the film industry and then abruptly left in 2000 when she married the actor Dileep. Difficulty awaited anyone who attempted to track down her film dances online which made Manju a neglected subject on this blog.

When Ragothaman of the Bharathanatyam and the Worldwide Web blog notified me of his discovery of Manju's performance in Ennum Eppozhum, I thought it would be the perfect time to dust off my long-coming post and take advantage of the increase in Malayalam films available online.

Manju's film classical dances are always a large notch above the rest because her training clearly shows through no matter how "filmi" and hybridized the choreography, presentation, or editing style. Her body geometry and precise movements are a pleasure to watch. Comparing her to the mature Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Manju's only problem is that in her early film dances as a teenager she showed a lack of polish particularly in her abhinaya which consisted almost entirely of a plastered and unwavering smile and also in some of her lines which occasionally weren't quite perfect.

Trained in her youth in the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam (studying at the same institution as fellow film dancer Vineeth) as well as in Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam, Manju studied Kuchipudi more seriously in recent years under Geetha Padmakumar (Vempati Chinna Satyam's style) and performed her debut arangetram in 2012 after not having danced in public for 14 years. She's back!

Manju's Classical Film Dances

Ennum Eppozhum (2015, Malayalam) - "Dhithiki Dhithiki Thai" - After featuring Manju in a dance competition in his 1996 film Thooval Kottaram, director Sathyan Anthikad brings her back for her film dance comeback—a solo Kuchipudi stage number in his film Ennum Eppozhum. While it leans much more classical than most Indian cinema dances, it still has that filmi touch with the copious editing cuts, out-of-place isolated hand gesture closeups, and bits of prettified quick-choreography. But the number makes up for its shortcomings with lovely lighting/backlighting and Manju's seemingly clean and self-assured lines in some of the adagulu inspirations. Compared to her earlier films, Manju seems to be an entirely different dancer here. She actually has more than one facial expression, and her movements are much more relaxed and graceful. Some media articles and reviews misidentify the dance form as Bharatanatyam, but it's definitely Kuchipudi notably in the lively springiness, occasional mouthing of the words, and the classic Kuchipudi arm movements at :27 and :41 among others.

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3 comments Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Manju Warrier

Classical Dances in Recent Indian Films - Including Sattriya and Kootiyattam!

While I've been mostly looking back in history as I've blogged about Indian film dances for the past few years, a number of films have released in recent years with songs or scenes featuring classical dance forms. Having collected enough for a robust post and also making some great discoveries this weekend, I'm excited to take a break from research and share what the classical movie dance world has produced recently. I'm sure I've missed some—do let me know of any others!

Vara: A Blessing (2013, Coproduction) - Screened at various film festivals since it's debut but apparently not commercially released in theaters or on DVD, Vara: A Blessing has been described as "a visually stunning exploration of the cross between spiritual devotion and bodily temptation that incorporates hypnotic use of tradition Indian dance and music" and as a work "Accented by mesmerizing bursts of classical Indian dance, haunting vocals, and vivid Hindu fantasyscapes..." With choreography by the accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer Geeta Chandran, music by Nitin Sawhney, and sumptuous visuals and effects by the crew, the dances as seen in the few clips available online make the film an absolute must watch. It's not an Indian film since it's directed by the Bhutanese lama filmmaker Khyentse Norbu with help from various countried folk, but it is set in India and was made with many Indian actors, so it is perhaps a Bhutanese/Indian/international coproduction.

This is the clip that took my breath away and has me aching to watch the film. In it, the main character Lila (Odissi dancer Shahana Goswami) dances Bharatanatyam under the nattuvangam of her mother Vinata (Geeta Chandran), the village's last devadasi. Based on Variety's review of the film which describes how the tribal leader tries to "pimp out Lila" while finding a match for a woman's son, the man staring at her as she dances is likely either the son or the tribal leader. Like him, I can't keep my eyes away from Shahana's face which registers constant emotion and danger that is enhanced by the lighting design and shadows. The entire clip has an ominous, creepy tension. Thanks to Ragothaman for pointing out this clip from Chandran's Facebook page.

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5 comments Aditi Rao Hydari, Assamese, Bharatanatyam, Documentary, Geeta Chandran, Humor, Kamal Hassan, Kathak, Kathakali, Kootiyattam, Kuchipudi, Male Dance, Margi Sathi, Mohiniattam, Odissi, Practice Dance, Sattriya

Film Classical Dances of Shobana

Shobana, the well-known Bharatanatyam dancer and film actress/dancer, was my first film dance love alongside the equally luminous Bhanupriya. Until now I have posted very little about her, the subject of my blog avatar image, because other than her excellent dances in Manichitrathazhu and Dance Like a Man I had not been able to find any other proper film classical dances in her filmography. There were lots of pseudo-classical dances and numbers that tried to evoke classical imagery like those in Rudraveena, Dhwani, and April 18. It seemed hard to believe given how talented of a dancer she was, and I knew there had to be some hardcore practice and stage numbers hiding out there somewhere.

I was so excited when Richard at his Dances on the Footpath blog found Shobana's Bharatanatyam numbers in Mahamayee, and thanks to the huge uptick recently in the number of Malayalam films and songs posted online I was able to find this week two Malayalam films with classical dances by Shobana that I have never seen before (and I venture to guess neither have most of my readers!). Huge thanks are due to Youtuber Iqnatusm who has uploaded a lot of rare dances from Malayalam cinema [Update: Channel no longer available].

SHO-bana (not "Sho-BANa" as my Malayalee friend corrects me with exasperation) Chandrakumar was born in 1970 (not 1966 as some articles mistakenly claim) in Kerala to the brother of the famous "Travancore Sisters" Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini. Her first film appearance was at age 9 in Mangalanayiki (Tamil, 1980) but she describes in an interview [no longer available at ibnlive] her true debut film as a lead as April 18 (Malayalam, 1984). But Bhakta Dhruva Markandeya (Telugu, 1982), a children's mythological film starring an all child/teen cast, could be considered her first major role. I was delighted to find the film available on YouTube with English subtitles. Here is a 12-year-old Shobana as Queen Suneethi dancing a bit in a song with just-christened second wife Suruchi (at 13:48 is a brief Bharatanatyam-inspired move). The whole children/young teens acting such mature roles thing is a bit...creepy!

Starts 12:14

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12 comments Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Male Dance, Mohiniattam, Shobana

Film Kuchipudi Dances of Sobha Naidu

Sobha Naidu (aka Shobha Naidu) is one of the big names in Kuchipudi dance.  She "sprang on the dance scene in 1969" and "became synonymous" with the style of the late, famed Kuchipudi guru Vempati Chinna Satyam (Kothari).  Her pictures abound in books on Kuchipudi and Indian Classical Dance, and among the many awards she has received is India's Padma Shri civilian award in 2001 in recognition of her contributions to Kuchipudi dance.  Clearly her life has been dedicated to the dance form, and she has been the principal of the Hyderabad branch/affiliate of Chinna Satyam's Kuchipudi Art Academy since 1980. 

A while back, I had done some research to see if Sobha had ever danced in any films and did not find any evidence.  In interviews and articles, Sobha makes it crystal clear that she purposefully stayed out of films completely (implying dance and choreography) to maintain her singleminded dedication to Kuchipudi dance.  She says [in a YouTube video no longer locatable now] many offers from famous directors came her way, like Siri Siri Muvva, Sankarabaranam, Hamsageethe, but she refused them all, even returning a blank check offered by filmmaker Nagi Reddy who she says then declared his respect for her "dedication to classical dance."  Sobha relates how Rukmini Devi Arundale attended her arangetram and was so pleased she made Sobha promise that she "would never succumb to the lure of cinema and would strive to stay a classical dancer" throughout her life (article no longer locatable at The Hindu).  Sobha adds, "Actually, I had already made that decision as a young girl, but Rukminijee reinforced the resolve by insisting on a promise made by placing my hand in hers!" (Deccan Herald).   

Sobha in Abhimanavanthulu

So imagine my surprise today when I read a reference to Sobha dancing in the 1973 Telugu film Abhimanavanthulu!  The reference was found in Shankar Venkatraman's book Thiraiulagil Isai Kalaignargal (Musicians in Cinema) which dance enthusiast and "Bharathanatyam and the World Wide Web" contributor Ragothaman graciously translated for me (thank you!!).  After some further research, it is clear that Sobha Naidu most definitely did participate in films!  While she certainly didn't abandon her dance career for the glamor of the cinema world, she did dance in Abhimanavanthulu and was an assistant choreographer for America Ammayi.  Surely that counts as participating in films--and not only participating behind the scenes as a choreographer but also up front and center as a solo dancer!  While I've only found two examples, it makes me curious if there are others out there!

Abhimanavanthulu (Telugu, 1973) - "Eppativale Kaadura"

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16 comments Kuchipudi, Sobha Naidu

Found: Devayani's Classical Dance in America Ammayi (1976, Telugu)

Yay! Another dance from my Holy Grail post found!  This time it's Devayani's Kuchipudi-esque dance in the song "Ananda Tandavamade" from the 1976 Telugu film America Ammayi (American Girl), a remake of the 1975 Tamil film Melnaatu Marumagal.

TeluguCinema.com's excellent retrospective on America Ammayi (removed from site but viewable through the Wayback Machine) and interview with Devayani give details in her involvement with the film.  She was approached for the role by director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao after he saw her debut arangetram dance performance in Madras (Chennai).  Since she was trained only in Bharatanatyam, Devayani learnt Kuchipudi from the eminent Vempati Chinna Satyam (who sadly passed away just a few weeks ago).

While Devayani says Vempati Chinna Satyam was one of the dance directors for the film, she says her dance in Ananda Tandavamade was composed by Sree Satyanarayana (I assume she means KV Satyanarayana who also was involved with films like Swarna Kamalam and Srutilayalu), and assistant Shoba Naidu (well-known disciple of Vempati Chinna Satyam).  While she clearly has training in Bharatanatyam with the crisp way she holds herself, I find her upper body really stiff and her extremely long arms look lanky and awkward at times especially with the overly-fast pace she's been given.  Her ballet training seems to show through, particularly in the way she gracefully moves her arms and hands, and the light "skipping" movements of the feet look a bit unnatural.  Every so often there seems to be some Bharatanatyam moves snuck in for good measure.  Overall, though, I think she did a nice job.  I love the setting of the Nataraja Swami Temple of Chidambaram, and its architecture and karana sculptures are used to wonderful effect.  Isn't it wonderful to see a white woman in an Indian film performing traditional dance, and doing it fairly well, rather than the trope of the exoticised scantily-clad gori backup dancer.  And most of all it is wonderful to finally be able to see this dance!

Devayani and the "French Wave" in Bharatanatyam

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16 comments A White Chick, Devayani, Kuchipudi

A Better Quality Bala AND Sanchari, Bamboo Flute, and Kuchipudi Revisited Posted Full Length!

What a coincidence!  I just discovered that not even a month after I had posted Bala (1976) on YouTube a much better-quality version was posted by the imagineindia channel which appears to be linked with the "Imagine India International Film Festival Madrid" that took place in May.  The quality of their version is excellent with no pixelation or compression, sound perfectly synched, and a rose-tinted sepia appearance.  If only I would have waited a few weeks it would have already been up online, amazing!  Oh 2012, my love for you has no bounds!

Update: Video removed/channel no longer available

Imagineindia's channel also has what I understand is another rare film of Satyajit Ray, Pikoo's Diary.  Other non-related channels have uploaded Sukumar Ray and The Inner Eye, both also quite rare apparently.

While that is quite awesome, I am even more excited to see that Sanchari, Bamboo Flute, and Kuchipudi Revisited are now all posted full length! I was so excited about the discovery of the full-length Bhavantarana on Monday that I didn't check to see if any other Indian Diplomacy hosted documentaries I blogged about had been posted in full!

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3 comments Alarmel Valli, Balasaraswati, Bharatanatyam, Documentary, Kelucharan Mohapatra, Kuchipudi, Leela Samson, Odissi, Swapna Sundari

Sabita Bhamidipati's Dances and the film Saptapadi (1981, Telugu)

Just like Malavika featured in my previous post about the the film Ananda Bhairavi, Sabita Bhamidipati was also a film-classical-dance-one-hit-wonder.  Her only film was K. Vishwanath's 1981 feature, Saptapadi, which TeluguOne has uploaded in full on their YouTube channel (starting with Part 1 here)- yay!  Do note that they have also inexplicably uploaded the whole thing in better video quality BUT the video is stretched so everyone looks short and fat!

About the Film

Saptapadi won the 1982 Indian National Award for “Best Feature Film on National Integration” for “focusing on the problems of society whose orthodoxy inflicts grave injustice on the underprivileged, for the dilemma faced by a brahmin disciplinarian in confronting his grand-daughter’s love for a Harijan, [and] for resolving the problem in a rational manner, worthy of the country’s best secular traditions."  It sounds like quite a serious film from that description! But it’s actually what I would consider a sweet film with a serious message.

Saptapadi essentially tells the story of a Kuchipudi dancer Hema (Sabitha Bhamidipathi) who is the granddaughter of the feared and orthodox Brahmin priest Yajulu (JV Somayajulu) of the local Hindu temple. Impressed by Hema’s dancing, the priest fixes her marriage with a man named Gowrinath (Ravikanth). But Hema is in love with another man, Hari (Girish), who is the flute player accompanying her performances and whom she soon is astonished to learn is a “Harijan” low-caste untouchable! Since intercaste marriage is unacceptable, she dutifully enters into marriage with Gowrinath. On the wedding night her husband envisions (hallucinates?) that she is a Hindu goddess and he worships her instead of consummating the marriage. This continues for some time, much to the disappointment of Hema. She often fondly recalls her romance with Hari, and her pent up frustrations find expression in a thrilling tandav dance! Yajulu comes to know of Gowrinath's visions and Hema's true love (a plot point which I'm not clear on due to, once again, the lack of English subtitles). It appears the visions are seen as an "act of God" that spurs Yajulu to reconsider his orthodox positions.  Near the end of the film, the priest and Hema’s husband have a change of heart and actually bring Hema and her true love Hari together to be wed--of course not until after Yajulu gives some long speeches (presumably scriptural/spiritual discussions about caste) to the shocked local community  Some commenters over at Idlebrain and Telugufilms have said that the film essentially examines the orthodoxy and true purpose of the caste system and shows through Yajulu’s character the transformation of a person transitioning from judging someone based on caste to learning to see the true nature of the person’s heart.

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24 comments Kuchipudi, Sabitha Bhamidipati

Malavika's Dances and the film Ananda Bhairavi (1983, Telugu/Kannada)

Some of my top favorite classical dances in Indian films can be found in the relatively-obscure 1983 film Ananda Bhairavi (made in Telugu and Kannada). I've finally learned enough about the dancers in this film, and the film itself, to give the film some recognition and praise its main dancer, Malavika!

Film Background and Plot

From Cinegoer.com

Ananda Bhairavi is a very low-budget, village-based film about traditional practitioners of the Indian classical dance form Kuchipudi and their personal struggles with tradition in relationships.  It is apparently set in the actual Kuchipudi village in Andhra Pradesh where the dance form originated and got its name. 

Surprisingly, the film is said to have beat Saagara Sangamam (Salangai Oli in dubbed Tamil) for the coveted Golden Nandi Award in the 1983 Telugu state awards.  K. Vishwanath did not direct this film as one might assume; it was actually directed by Jandhyala who was best known for directing Telugu comedy films but had a connection to K. Vishwanath in writing dialogues for many of his dance and culture films (including, amusingly, Saagara Sangamam).  Unfortunately, it seems the film was not a big commercial success and has largely been forgotten, especially when compared to the similar film released that same year, Saagara Sangamam.  I think it was because Ananda Bhairavi just wasn't on the same magical level as its successful peer films about dance that followed in Shankarabharanam's footsteps; the film is also a bit rough around the edges and feels a little "claustrophobic" in that, outside of the songs, most scenes are just people talking and the viewer doesn't feel very engaged.

I've watched both the Telugu and Kannada versions of the film, and the dialogue and character-specific scenes were reshot for each language version while the dances seem to be edited slightly differently but not reshot (except for dialogue segments). Since neither version had English subtitles (despite the Kannada DVD by Moser Baer saying it has subs--liars!), I've resorted to gathering the unclear details about the plot from bits of chatter online.

The film tells the story of a Kuchipudi guru (Girish Karnad) whose young son Rajeev does not want to learn the family dance tradition and runs away.  The guru, impressed by the folk dance performance of a little girl named Bhairavi in his village, "adopts" Bhairavi to learn Kuchipudi dance in a traditional, guru-shishya relationship.  Since women learning Kuchipudi was not a traditionally accepted practice at the time, the guru is shunned by the traditional community in his village. The guru presses on teaching the girl who grows into a stunning Kuchipudi dancer (Malavika).  When Bhairavi runs into the guru's now-grown son Rajeev (Rajesh), the two fall in love much to the dismay of the guru. Why the guru is unhappy about the relationship is not clear; one person online said it was because the guru saw his son as an obstacle between the guru's protege and his pride, while another said it was because the girl was from a low caste and the guru's traditional values could not allow him to accept such a person as a daughter-in-law through marriage.  Whatever the reason, it appears that the guru, finally seeing the hypocrisy of his going against tradition to train a female Kuchipudi dancer but not letting Bhairavi go against tradition in marriage choice, approves of the marriage and the two are wed.  The film ends on an artsy note which I won't spoil but involves the guru performing a thrilling tandav dance.

Girish Karnad as the Kuchipudi guru

Malavika as Bhairavi, the guru's student

Rajesh as Rajeev, Bhairavi's love interest

The Dancers Behind the Dances

Finally! I have identified the two main dancers seen in this film!  They are:

Malavika.  The female dancer in the film, the adult Bhairavi character, has been credited online as Malavika (and occasionally Mallika).  I found a confirmation that her name is indeed Malavika over on the Idlebrain discussion boards where a commenter identified the actress as Malavika, said Malavika was an Odissi dancer, and claimed she had closely followed Malavika's dance programs on Doordarshan.  So who is this Malavika and what is her last name?  After going on a little Minai-research-journey I haven't had much success.  She is clearly not the famous dancer Malavika Sarukkai or the Hindi film and Doordarshan serial-starrer Malavika Tiwari. The one person I am stuck on is the dancer Malavika Venkatasubbaiah who has a striking resemblance (those almond-shaped eyes!) and  has studied Bharatanatyam, Odissi, and Kuchipudi.  The only problem is that she looks too young (the Ananda Bhairavi Malavika would have aged 30 years by now), and her bio says she trained under her main Bharatanatyam guru starting in 1990 and has been an "active performer for over 14 years."  But... just look at this resemblance:

Ananda Bhairavi Malavika (left), Malavika Venkatsubbaiah (right)

It seems that Malavika, whoever she is, never acted in any other films and was a "one hit dance wonder."  Such a shame, as she was incredibly gifted.  If I do ever confirm her real identity, I will come back and edit this post; I'm just dying to see some of her other dances!  EDIT: The actress' identity seems to be Malavika Sarkar; see the excellent discussion in the comments!  EDIT: Please see my recent post with visual proof of Malavika Sarkar and her history!

Bhagavathula Venkata Rama Sarma.  I received a lovely comment on the Telugu-version song "Koluvaithiva Ranga Sai" I posted on YouTube; it was the male dancer's son identifying the dancer as his dad, Bhagavathula Venkata Rama Sarma, a leading Kuchipudi dance master in Andhra Pradesh who currently runs the dance institute Sri Nrutya KalaSala and is director of the Sri Nrutya Art Academy.  See!  This is exactly why I love blogging and posting videos as it brings together people and information in unprecedented ways.  How nice to see that the dancer is still active in dance nearly 30 years later.

The Dances!

And now, my favorite part of the film: all the wonderful dances!  Since the Telugu version's print is really terrible and damaged (the DVD makers even formally apologize before the film plays), all the videos below are from the Kannada version.

"Guru Brahma" (Telugu version) - This is the first of two "practice" songs in the film, but unlike most it shows the actual guru-shishya relationship and teachings of the mudras (hand gestures).  The little girl who plays the young Bhairavi is completely adorable, and quite a good dancer. 

"Chaitrada Kusumaanjali" (Chaithramu Kusumanjali in Telugu) - Continuing from the video above, here we see young-Bhairavi turn into young-woman-Bhairavi played by the amazing Malavika! This is the first glimpse we have of her beautiful, geometric lines. Despite the lower production values, there are clear attempts at creating beautiful visuals.

"Malagiruveya Ranganatha" (Koluvaithiva Rangasayi in Telugu) - This is the first dance competition where Bhairavi (Malavika) is pitted against a male Kuchipudi dancer (Bhagavathula Venkata Rama Sarma) and gets to prove her mettle!  Unfortunately, due to the drama seen in the song, Bhairavi is distracted (understandably!) and loses much to the dismay of her guru who felt this was his opportunity to show that traditional community that teaching a girl Kuchipudi was a fruitful and worthy decision (I think). Though the editors favor lots of short, choppy cuts, what's left is the exquisite visuals of Malavika's sharp posture and lines.  She elevates her choreography to something that I can watch repeatedly.  I don't even know quite how to put it into words... she's just brilliant.

"Shiva Tandava" - This is the second dance competition between Bhairavi and the male Kuchipudi dancer, and this time it's a fiery and passionate Tandav!  As I noted on my post about Tandav dances, I love the energy these kinds of dances create.  It's electrifying, and this song does a great job in ramping up the excitement (aided through tons of quick editing cuts) more and more until the climax.  Luckily Bhairavi wins this round which garners she and her guru the support of the traditional crowd who had not been pleased thus far.

"Thillana" - A four-stage dance number featuring Kuchipudi (by Malavika), Kathak, Manipuri, and Kathakali dancers! What a rare treat to see all four attempted in a film song in what appears to be decently authentic costumes and inspired choreography.  The best part is the rousing finale as each drum enters in succession and all four dancers are visible on screen.

"Haaduva Muraliya" (Pilichina Muraliki in Telugu) - The romantic song in the bunch, here Rajeev and Bhairavi prance about and admire each other's post-puberty status (Bhairavi really digs Rajeev's chest hair!). Bhairavi has some cute little mini dance moves throughout.  Note that the beginning does a skip a little bit. 

Practice Scenes - I remember when I first watched this scene long ago I was new to South Indian films and completely captivated by Malavika's half sari! Recognize the song they are singing?  It's the same one, Raghuvamsha Sudha, that Kamal Hassan danced to in Sanam Teri Kasam, and apparently it's a popular Carnatic music piece.

"Baa Baa Raagavaagi" (Raa Raa Ragamai in Telugu) - Rajeev, Bhairavi's thwarted love interest, crashes her wedding and inspires Bhairavi to perform a tandav dance and reunite!  There's a little too much of Rajeev getting beaten up and kicked out (they even try to smash his dear flute!) but once Bhairavi starts her dance it's pretty awesome. 

Ending Tandav Dance - Girish Karnad gives one last performance with a powerful tandav dance performed in an altered state.  The choreography is simple but effective in transmitting the power of the dance and moment to us, the viewer.  There's a spoiler right after this scene, so I'll leave it at that!

Coming soon... two more posts about underappreciated dancers in underappreciated 80s films!

26 comments Bhagavathula Venkata Rama Sarma, Girish Karnad, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Malavika, Male Dance, Manipuri

Film Classical Dances of Bhanupriya: Part 1 (Ode to Swarna Kamalam)

A few years back, when I was in the midst of being newly-enamored by this thing called "Classical Indian Dance" that I saw elements of in Hindi film dances, I read about the classical-oriented films of K. Vishwanath and on a whim purchased the Telugu film Swarnakamalam (Golden Lotus) without knowing anything about it.  This turned out to be a pivotal decision because I fell in love with the film's rustic settings and charming characters and, most of all, Bhanupriya!  I've already told a version of this story once in my (cheesy) How South Indian Films Stole My Heart post, but my focus here is solely on the jewel of Swarna Kamalam, Bhanupriya.

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28 comments Bhanupriya, Kuchipudi

Classical Dances in Kannada Films - Part 1

Subba Shastry DVD Cover

Throughout all of my posts on classical dance, one thing that has bothered me is the lack of representation from Kannada movies.  Tamil and Telugu films seem to dominate the landscape of filmi classical dance offerings with Malayalam films in a distant third likely due to Kerala's rich classical dance traditions.  But finding native Kannada films (not dubbings) with classical dance content has been difficult. 

There is a relative lack of information about Sandalwood (the Kannada film industry) online compared to other southern industries which means an outsider like me has put forth extra effort to unearth anything useful. When I first pondered why I had so few Kannada songs in my blog posts, I wondered if the film industry's obscurity relative to its southern counterparts had simply hidden songs from my view.  Or was it the industry's recent struggles compared to its earlier golden years?  I even started to wonder if Karnataka had less of an engrained classical dance tradition that would be reflected in film compared to, say, Tamil Nadu, but I suspect I'm ignorant on the subject. In any case, here's what I've been able to find about classical-inspired dances in Kannada cinema.

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9 comments Anuj Mishra, Bharatanatyam, Gopi Krishna, Kamala, Kannada, Kuchipudi, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Latha, Male Dance, Odissi, Sridhar, Yakshagana

Hamsa Geethe's Classical Dance Competition: Translation and Reflection

The 1975 Kannada period film Hamsageethe (“The Swan Song”) contains one of my favorite classical dances in Indian films ever.  Directed by GV Iyer and based on Ta Ra Su’s novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a carnatic musician and his missteps and personal growth on the path of devotion to god.  The novel was based upon the supposed real life of the carnatic musician Bhairavi Venkata Subbiah who lived in the 18th century.  UpperStall has a decent review of the film, and a post at the Ancient Indians - Satya Samhita blog (archived here) lays out the basic plot.

Midway through the film, Venkatasubbaiah is invited to witness the performance of a Tanjore dancer who has made the challenge that the kingdom has no dancers to equal her.  She gives a beautiful Bharatanatyam performance and is then followed by a local dancer for whom Venkatasubbaiah lends his beautiful voice.  The scene is shot at the lovely Chitradurga Fort.

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23 comments Bharatanatyam, Jayalakshmi Eswar, Kuchipudi

Classical Dance Practice Scenes/Songs in Indian Films

There is something charming and beautiful about classical dance practice numbers in Indian films. Perhaps it's the unassuming and flattering cotton sari wrapped around the dancer's body; I've always liked plain saris a bit more than the full, complicated costume. Or maybe it's the everyday, unadorned, simple nature of the dance that adds to its beauty. Or it could be that the dances often gets closer to their classical roots in this format. Whatever it is, I'm simply a huge fan of them in films.

Below is a list of all 34 practice numbers I can think of in Indian films where the purpose of the song or scene is not "performance" but rather informal "practice" overall. It's interesting how many of them are from the 80s and 90s, the seeming "golden era" of this type of classical performance in film. The videos below are listed in rough order of awesomeness, favorites first. If you can make it all the way to the end, consider yourself a classical dance nerd like me! (Or maybe it's just list-making nerd?) Enjoy!

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27 comments Aditi Rao Hydari, Bhanupriya, EV Saroja, Girish Karnad, Jayapradha, Kamal Hassan, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manju Bhargavi, Mohanlal, Mohiniattam, Practice Dance, Rekha, Revathy, Shobana, Sudha Chandran, Vineeth