Guru Gopinath Dancing in Mahatma Udhangar (1947, Tamil) and BFI Footage, Plus Thoughts on His Legacy

How excited I am to recently find two more visual records of Guru Gopinath dancing in the mid-1940s, one in the commercial Tamil film Mahatma Udhangar and one archival find at the British Film Institute (BFI)!  Back in the dance revival decades of pre and post-independence India, Guru Gopinath was among the trained native Kathakali dancers who brought that dance form and its movement vocabulary to other parts of India and the world.  Gopinath did this first through a touring partnership with the American-born dancer known as "Ragini Devi," and later by creating a Kathakali-derived accessible dance form that seems to be known today as "Kerala Natanam."  Gopinath has been featured on the blog twice before in dance footage from the 1950s.  First was his portly and entertaining dance with Guru Gopalakrishnan/the mohini in the mythological "Mohini Bhasmasur" sequence in the 1957 Telugu/Tamil film Mayabazar, and second was the rare archival find of brief clips from his stage performance in the U.S.S.R. in 1954 as part of the Indian Cultural Delegation.  But these new finds are special because they are from a decade earlier, and feature Gopinath looking noticeably younger and thinner!

Gopinath's Dance in Mahatma Udhangar (1947, Tamil)

Mahatma Udhangar (also transliterated Mahathma, Udangar, Udankar) was an unsuccessful release directed by G. Pattu Iyer that "sank without a trace and is barely remembered today" [6], which must explain why there's so little information readily available on the film.  I shared more information about Mahatma Udhangar in my last post rejoicing about finding Kumari Kamala's dance in the film.

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2 comments Guru Gopinath, Male Dance, Rare Find, Rare Real-Life Footage

Birju Maharaj Dancing Kathak in Khayal Gatha (1988, Hindi)...Yes, I'm Back, Hiatus Ended!

I'm back, my excitement has spontaneously returned, and the blog has had a facelift that's still under some construction.  More on all that soon, but for now, on to the content!

Every once in a while I search the interwebs to see if any cinematic/archival dances from my wishlist have surfaced. On a recent search jaunt, I was delighted to find that footage has been posted online of the great Kathak doyen, Pandit Birju Maharaj, dancing in the 1988 Hindi film Khayal Gatha ("The Khayal Saga," sometimes listed as being released in 1989).  I knew Birju Maharaj had choreographed for some Kathak dances in films, but Khayal Gatha was the only instance I'd read of where he was in front of the camera, rather than behind it.  Kathak hasn't made that many appearances on this blog in the past, but like those few times, this is a real treat.

Pandit Birju Maharaj, for those who aren't aware of his stature, is probably the name most synonymous with Kathak dance in the last half-century, a 1930s-born acclaimed carrier of his family's now-predominant Lucknow gharana of Kathak, a critical part of the standardization and institutionalization of Kathak in the Indian post-independence dance revival and reckoning that took place in his most formative years, a beloved and very charismatic and likable performer, and an innovator within traditional boundaries.  He was instrumental in popularizing the dance form in India and the world, and is still doing so today, traveling around the globe in his 80s.

It quickly became apparent in watching Khayal Gatha that Birju chose an "art film" far from the world of commercial cinema for his cinematic dance debut.  (Note, I will leave out honorifics and refer to him simply as "Birju" for brevity and clarity.)  Kumar Shahani, a significant name in Indian parallel/new wave cinema, was by all accounts a radical, experimental, and avant-garde filmmaker.  Khayal Gatha is no exception—when I first browsed through the film I could not make any sense of it, so I found what some wiser people than I had written about the film and Shahani which helped quite a bit, but much interpretation is left for the educated viewer to decide.

Writings on the film [1,2,3,4] describe Khayal Gatha as an experimental and sensory exploration of real and invented Indian legends, traditions, and performing arts from the past five centuries to the contemporary period, many related to the vocal tradition of Khayal, a genre of North Indian/Hindustani classical/semi-classical music that is heard throughout the film and as a style features improvisation, microtones and gliding between notes, and a varied range of classical, folk, and popular sources that the film is greatly inspired by.  The lead character, portrayed by actor Rajat Kapoor in his debut (whom I can never unsee as anything but the creepy pedophile in Monsoon Wedding!), is a wanderer and seeker who is at times an observer and other times takes on the personas of the various legendary figures being depicted.  Plenty of allegory, abstraction, metaphor, repeated scenes, and a lack of chronological storytelling tick the experimental boxes, and the dialogues are often philosophical and meant to inspire thought.  Ultimately, the film can be interpreted in very complex ways in relation to the wounds of historical loss, the human sensory experience, cyclical movements and the nature of time, and much more that's beyond the scope of this post...and beyond my comprehension.

Director Kumar Shahani used dance and music in many of his films.  His work has been featured on the blog before when I posted about excitedly finding dances from Shahani’s later films Bhavantarana (1991), featuring the late Odissi Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and other famous Odissi dancers, and Bamboo Flute (2000), featuring dances by Mohapatra as well as Alarmel Valli.

I was heartened to read that Khayal Gatha features key musical contributions (and I assume on-screen appearances) "by some of the foremost musicians from the Gwalior gharana" of Indian classical music [5].  But of course, of most interest to this blog is that the great Birju Maharaj dances in a feature film!  We get to see him three times totaling about seven minutes of footage spread out over two primarily pure dance pieces and one expressive piece.  There's also a Kathak dance practice scene by two women, and you know how I love a good practice dance!

Watching other performance and demonstration footage of Birju dancing online, he is among the great performers who have so imbibed and internalized a dance form and all its associated complexities that his performances look effortless and a part of his very being.  For those who don't know who he is, Birju at first glance isn't the most handsome male dancer, doesn't have that "ideal" body shape, and wears simple clothing, but on watching him perform, these things quickly become irrelevant.

Dances in Khayal Gatha

Introductory Dance - Birju Maharaj's first dance in the film, and the film itself, are said to be visually inspired by Mughal miniature paintings, which often feature the "framing of a figure against a window" or vacant space [2].  From behind an empty door frame, rhythmic sounds precede Birju's movements into view. He depicts a horse and horse riding, a common sight and method of transport throughout the film as the wanderer makes his journey, and soon "gallops" off screen to a cut of his truncated dancing body framed by a window, the lighting inverted.

Birju's assuredness and style of movement is commanding!  Regrettably, his dance lasts less than a minute, soon interrupted by the wandering protagonist (Rajat Kapoor) slowly walking by and gazing at the dancer in the window. The wanderer knocks on the door, and a woman answers—she (actress Alaknanda Samarth) is an oracle-type seen throughout the film in different avatars, provoking philosophical/critical thought and learning in the wanderer.  The oracle leads the wanderer to her guru, and unties cloth that had been wrapped around his feet.  What does that mean, I wonder?  When the wanderer responds to the oracle's question "to what are you bound," her reply is, intriguingly, interpreted by cinema studies scholar Laleen Jayamanne [2] to refer to the notion of "the mere exact repetition of the form without an internalization of its spirit [being] rejected as unworthy of the tradition," a sentiment applicable to the dance tradition shown the film as well as the film's philosophical yearnings.

Video starts 56:08

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1 comment Birju Maharaj, Kathak, Male Dance, Rare Find, Suchitra Harmalkar, Vijaya Sharma

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 Dances of Gopi Krishna - Including Three Little-Known Videos

The late Kathak dancer Gopi Krishna (≈1933-38 to 1994) is perhaps best remembered for his dances in the 1955 Hindi film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. His dances in that film exemplified his trademark—his lightning-fast, signature version of kathak chakkar pirouettes! His film dances were much more acrobatic freeform furor than classical Kathak but nevertheless electrifying with the unbridled energy that coursed through a flurry of rotations, backbends and whiplash-fast movements. Gopi Krishna’s style of wild, joyous abandon is unlike anything I've seen and there has never been a male dancer in Indian films that has come close to matching it. In this post, I want to focus on his film dances, including three relatively rare songs that don't seem to be widely known, and also give some background information on his style, life, and legacy.

While Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje is filled with Gopi's dances such as his infamous introductory pirouette-pillar dance and his energetic tandava with Sandhya, highlighted here is the "Kathak" dance competition in the film:

Chaube Maharaj⁵

It is well known that Gopi Krishna is the nephew of famous Kathak and film dancer Sitara Devi. But I was surprised to learn in Sunil Kothari's book on Kathak⁵ that the dancer Gopi competes against in the video above is Chaube Maharaj—Sitara's brother and therefore Gopi's uncle! Kothari notes that Sukhdev Maharaj, a "court musician in Nepal [...] took a bold step in training his two daughters Alaknanda and Sitara, two sons Chaube and Pande as dancers and another daughter Tara as a musician." Tara Devi was Gopi Krishna's mother and also a famous thumri singer¹⁰. Chaube Maharaj can also be seen playing some fierce tabla in Gopi's introductory pillar dance, and he seems to have stayed active in Kathak dance and music through his life. Sitara Devi adopted Chaube's daughters Jayantimala and Priyamala and trained them in her "fiery and energetic" style of Kathak⁵.

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3 comments Gopi Krishna, Male Dance

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

Odissi Dance in Indian Cinema Outside Odisha

Continuing on from last week's post about Odissi dance in Odia films, here I want to highlight the usage of Odissi in films outside of Odisha. Like other classical dance forms beyond the ubiquitous Kathak and Bharatanatyam, Odissi is rarely seen in non-Odian films. When it does appear in a significant way, it is usually tied to the setting of the film or a character having Odishan heritage. Below are five Indian films that featured Odissi in a significant way starting with my absolute favorite, Hamari Beti.

Hamari Beti (2006, Hindi) - I am thrilled to have discovered this film! In the same spirit as the films Mayuri/Nache Mayuri, Hamari Beti starred Sakti Swarupa Bir (aka Shakti Swaroop) and portrayed her real-life story as a girl in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, who was deaf and speech impaired but triumphantly rose above her challenges and became an Odissi dancer. National Award-winning Odia film director/cinematographer A.K. Bir directed, scripted, and photographed the film, and Telugu film producer D. Rama Naidu produced it. While the film seems to have only been screened at some film festivals and had a very limited commercial release, luckily for us the production company Suresh Productions has posted the entire film on their YouTube channel! Distributed throughout the film is nearly 15-minutes of Odissi dance, and to my delight nearly all of them are practice dances (my favorite!) done in cotton practice saris. The careful attention to the cinematography and sound design makes the dances a gorgeous watch.

Chittaranjan Acharya (aka Prachee Chitta Ranjan Acharya or C.R. Acharyya), Sakti's real life Odissi guru and inspiration, plays himself in the film and is credited for the film's choreography. Chittaranjan is "an engineer by profession and an Odissi dance exponent by passion" who learned Odissi from Pankaj Charan Das. He still performs Odissi today with his daughter Asmita Mahapatra or his troupe. Here he is in the film demonstrating Odissi for his students—a rare male Odissi film dance!

Start 31:43

In real life, Sakti had developed her speech and hearing disabilities when she was an infant. After seeing a seven-year-old Sakti imitate dancers she saw on the television at home, her father connected her with his work colleague Chittaranjan who found she was a "promising dancer" and agreed to take her as his student. Sakti learned the form by imitating the dance of Chittaranjan's daughter Asmita who was also learning Odissi from him, and when Sakti later performed on stage Chittaranjan would "play" the rhythm with his hands next to the stage. In the film, Asmita's role is played by Odissi dancer Dr. Prachi Mehta who has an expressive and cheerful face.

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2 comments Chittaranjan Acharya, Komal Mahuvakar, Male Dance, Odissi, Prachi Mehta, Sakti Swarupa Bir, Sharon Lowen

Uday Shankar's Kathakali Inspirations in Kalpana (Hindi, 1948)

Now that Uday Shankar’s dance film Kalpana (1948, Hindi) is easily viewable at Pad.ma, Shankar's dance style can be better analyzed and understood. While much has been written and theorized about Shankar’s dance based largely on written and photographic evidence, video is really worth a thousand words and photos!  No longer must visual evidence of Shankar's dance be the purview of a tiny sliver of dance scholars (and lucky residents in India!) allowed private screenings while conducting field research.  First BritishPathe allowed us glimpses of Shankar's early choreography, and now Kalpana has come to light for the general public to see a wide array of Shankar's works.

After watching Kalpana, I was immediately struck by how varied the dances were: simple folk dance, Kathakali-based creative movement, classical dance, and modern dance based on social themes! I'll be writing more on my overall thoughts of Shankar's dance and legacy as a whole, but in this post I want to focus on the Kathakali-based dances. I was very surprised at how much Shankar's style was influenced by the postures and movements of dance forms from Kerala, particularly Kathakali. I had read some references to Shankar's connections with Kathakali guru Shankaran Namboodiri and his teaching at Shankar’s dance center, but I didn’t realize the extent to which Shankar's dance style from his middle period was based in the dance form. I also didn’t realize until recently what “pure dance” in Kathakali consisted of given its seeming emphasis on narrative, and I couldn't find any visual teaching resources or books that had something comparable to "adavu" guides for Bharatanatyam. 

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7 comments Kathakali, Male Dance, Uday Shankar

Finally! Kalpana (1948) is VIEWABLE ONLINE!

FINALLY! Whilst leisurely strolling Google tonight for any news on Uday Shankar's 1948 dance film Kalpana, I was ASTONISHED to find that the Pad.ma online video archive folks have UPLOADED THE ENTIRE FILM ONLINE, and it has been up since November!  Where have I been?  Has no one else noticed this? Am I the last person to know?  Is this breaking news?  Why isn't this more widely known!  Holy hamster fluffles! I had to share this on my blog immediately!  Finally!  Finally us peons get to see this film! YAY!!!!  Patience has finally payed off!

I am so excited I am at a loss for words.  I will be posting again later this week after watching and digesting this fantastic piece of Indian cinematic history. :)

Here is the link to the video at Pad.ma (sometimes I've had trouble getting their direct links to load; alternatively you can go to Pad.ma, enter "Kalpana" in the search box, and double click on the film name result).  Tips: You have to double click on the video image (or mouse-over it and hit the play button in the lower left-hand corner) to get it to play.  The main video is in the center of the screen.  On the left side is a smaller version you can mouse over to scroll through screengrabs.  On the lower right-hand side of the main video box there is a little gear button; click on it to change the resolution or download it.  Note that the downloaded file is a .torrent file, so you have to use a torrent program to fully download the actual video file....which is what I am currently doing!  HAPPY VIEWING!

19 comments Male Dance, Uday Shankar

Film Dances of Madame Menaka and the Menaka Indian Ballet

Joshi's Biography

Over a year ago, I featured three rare film dance sequences of members of Madame Menaka's "Menaka Indian Ballet"; two were from the 1938 German film Der Tiger Von Eschnapur and the other was from the 1938 British documentary Temples of India.  Medame Menaka (real name Leila Sokhey) is generally recognized as an instrumental figure in the transformation of the maligned North Indian "nautch" dance to respectable "Kathak" in the 1930s.  Not only was she among the first (some would say the first) Brahmin women to perform Kathak on the public stage at a time when public female performance was stigmatized due to its association with prostitution, but also she was a pioneer in refashioning the form with a modern, dance-drama format and introduced Kathak technique to the international community for the first time through her troupe's tours of Europe and Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, Menaka's name and contribution remain generally forgotten today outside of serious dance circles due to her early death in 1947, the demise of her dance school soon after, and the establishment of Kathak as a patriarchal tradition that rarely acknowledges women practitioners of the past "as gurus, teachers, co-creators, or pioneers" (Chakravorty). 

Given Menaka's importance to Kathak dance and her billing as a dancer using Kathak technique, I was perplexed when I first watched her troupe's performances in Der Tiger Von Eschnapur.  The first dance segment had absolutely nothing to do with Kathak and the second only marginally so; both seemed to be presenting a generic, "exotic" Uday Shankar-style aesthetic that did not follow any particular form of Indian classical dance and instead looked inspired by Javanese dance.  At the time I figured Menaka must have bowed to the demands of the film which wanted to feature an "oriental" spectacle.

But this interpretation was turned on its head this week when I got a hold of the late Kathak dancer Damayanti Joshi's biography of Madame Menaka.  Joshi explicitly notes the dances in Der Tiger Von Eschnapur were excerpts from two of Menaka's earliest dance-drama creations, Krishna Leela and Deva Vijaya Nritya!  What's more, the costumes are clearly authentic pieces straight from the real-life productions, and it's highly likely the music is authentic as well.  What conclusions can be drawn from this striking information?  I'll get to my thoughts later on in the post, but first I want to review the songs again and reveal who the dancers were.

Identification

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6 comments Madame Menaka, Male Dance, Menaka Indian Ballet, Rare Find, Research

Film Dances/Appearances of Ram Gopal and Extant Dance Footage

While browsing the website of the National Portrait Gallery in London, I discovered they have a page on the late famous dancer Ram Gopal who is generally recognized as the first Indian dancer to bring classical/traditional Indian dances (as opposed to Uday Shankar's style) to the West starting in the late 1930s.  As I read the NPG's description of Gopal, I couldn't believe my eyes:

 "After the War he starred in a number of Hollywood epics made on location, such as The Purple Plain (1954), and William Dieterle's Elephant Walk (1954), for which he had also choreographed the dance sequences.” 

What?! Ram Gopal starred in Hollywood films and choreographed a dance? In all my reading about Ram Gopal I had never come across mention of his stint in films! Of course, I had to go on a little research journey and find out as much about this as I could.  It appears that he had supporting character rather than starring roles in a few films.

Ram Gopal's Hollywood/British Film Work

Elephant Walk (1954) - This American film contains the only feature film dance associated with Ram Gopal I was able to find.  The dance appears to be a traditional Kandyan dance and according to the credits is performed by dancers from the Madhyama Lanka Nritya Mandala, the landmark first traditional Kandyan dance school in Sri Lanka established in the 1940s by traditional Kandyan dancer Suramba Gurunnanse/Rajapakse and still functioning today [website no longer up but archived here].  Kandyan (or “up-country”) dance is one of the three main dance forms identified with the majority Sinhala ethnic community in Sri Lanka and is considered Sri Lanka’s national dance.

The film dance was supposedly filmed at the sacred elephant octagonal at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.  Gopal is credited as the dance's choreographer which I found interesting since I've not read of his learning Kandyan dance in his autobiography or elsewhere.  But he did tour Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) in the 1940s and tried to start a "School of Pakistani, Ceylonese, and Indian dances" in the 1960s, so he certainly must have picked up Kandyan dance somewhere along the way.  An article in Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times newspaper claimed that the male lead was Ram Gopal himself, but I’m convinced it’s not after taking some screencaps of the lead dancer who definitely does not look like Ram at all.  The only person that remotely looks like Ram Gopal is the man with the spear dancing around the masked elephant at the end.

Definitely not Ram Gopal

The film dance begins with a procession of dancers walking to the performance space and then cuts to a group of male dancers wearing what looks like authentic Ves costumes.  The lead performer, pictured above, gives an incredibly energetic performance!  The sequence is frequently interrupted by the irritating dialogue of the luminous Elizabeth Taylor and her companions.  At 2:34, the female dancers appear and another solo dancer gives yet another energized but brief performance.  It's interesting that the women are not wearing the female Kandyan dance costume seen today.  The number quickly goes downhill when white chick Mylee Haulani saunters in to titillate the male onlookers but is revived when the masked elephant dancer appears at 5:15.  The feel of the whole sequence is one of the "sophisticated" westerners watching a "quaint" but strange "oriental" dance performance of the country they are in.  I wonder if any of the dancers in the scene were well-known Kandyan dancers in the 1950s? Definitely an excellent archival piece of Kandyan dance history. Here tis:

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9 comments Male Dance, Ram Gopal, Rare Find, Rare Real-Life Footage, Research

Rare Video Clips of Devadasis, Uday Shankar & Simkie, Ram Gopal, and More

What a stunning find!  The wonderful commenter Gaddeswarup recently sent me a video from the site BritishPathé.com, and I'm grateful he did because when I explored the site further I found it houses some priceless footage of Indian dance.

British Pathé, a former film and newsreel company that "documented almost every aspect of everyday life in Britain and around the world in the 20th century" (BBC), has digitised its extensive archive ("90,000 videos from 1897-1970") online with free and full-length viewing for any visitor.  Given that Britain ruled the Indian subcontinent until 1947, the archive has a substantial number of clips of Indian events and every day life from the first half of the 20th century: independence, visits from British royalty, disorder and protests, ceremonies and weddings, festivals, politicians, dances, and much more.  Much of the older footage has a strong Orientalist tone; pictured on the left is a nice dance-related example from Indian Peeps (1930).

All of the videos can be purchased and downloaded, but since the listed duration of the videos for purchase are the same as their previews, I don't see any incentive to purchase them at exorbitant prices (30 Euros for a one-minute clip!).  What's most entertaining about the site is the descriptions; the catalogers given the job of dutifully describing each scene in every video must have gotten tired at some point because some of their phrasings are hilarious!  But I'm glad they went to that trouble because it allows the video events to be text searchable.

Unfortunately, none of the videos can be embedded, so you'll have to click on the lovely preview images to link to the video. Update: Now that BritishPathe transferred all its videos to YouTube, I've embedded them all below. Enjoy!

Devadasi Footage from the 1930s

The most important find has been a silent clip titled "Maharanee of Baroda" circa 1930-1935.  Starting at 8:06, two devadasi dancers perform in front of their musical ensemble.  The footage is stunning - the dancers are dressed exactly like those in old archival photos from this time period and before; it's as if the old photos have come to life!  They begin by dancing what looks like the alarippu portion of a Sadir/present-day Bharatanatyam performance, then move onto a more free-flowing, folksy dance style, and then return to Sadir/Bharatanatyam around 11:30.  The musicians and their instruments are fascinating; I've read accounts of how bagpipes used to be part of Sadir performances before the dance form was recreated as Bharatanatyam- I wonder if the musician on the right is an example of what is meant by "bagpipe."  Last, we must of course remember that this was a staged performance for the camera, but its historical value is immense.

Dancers appear 8:07

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18 comments Bulbul Chowdhury, Devadasis, Male Dance, Ram Gopal, Rare Real-Life Footage, Simkie, Uday Shankar

Found: The Classical Dance in Kann Sivandhal Mann Sivakkum (Tamil, 1983)

Dhananjayan as Nandanar (Source)

Remember the V.P. Dhananjayan dance from Kann Sivandhal Mann Sivakkum that was part of my "holy grail" list of Obscure Indian Films About Dance post?  I have found it!

While browsing through the Indian National Film Award program archives (another awesome discovery and subject of an upcoming post!), I noticed Kann Sivandhaal Mann Sivakkum had won a National Award for the "Best First Film of a Director."  On a whim, I decided do some googling and see if anything new from the film was online and low and behold YouTuber rdhinakar uploaded the entire film as well as all individual songs a month back [Update: No longer available, but located another source].

The film (according to the NFA description) basically tells the story of an American NRI woman who comes to India and seeks the help of an artist to help her create a classical dance about Nandanar, the legendary Harijan saint who lived in the 10th century.  Apparently the artist convinces her to create a folk dance instead and the two travel to the heart of Tamilnadu to find a famous exponent of the Theru-Koothu (Tamil street play) tradition.  The film won the National Award for its "original interpretation of a deep-rooted social evil, combining folk art with modern cinematic idiom."

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6 comments Bharatanatyam, Male Dance, VP Dhananjayan

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

Choreographer/Dancer Jack Cole and "Hindu Swing"

Ever heard of choreographer Jack Cole and “Hindu Swing?”  Four weeks ago I had not either, but I think this could be one of the grooviest discoveries I've ever made on this blog.

While researching films about India and Orientalism for my "Indian Dances in Western Films About India" post series, I came across the article "The Thousand Ways There Are to Move: Camp and Oriental Dance in the Hollywood Musicals of Jack Cole." Clearly an interesting article just from the title, but as I read it my fascination was piqued when I read that Cole fused ethnic movements (most notably East Indian) into his choreography, started out as a Denishawn dancer, and studied with Uday Shankar! A Hollywood choreographer that studied with Uday Shankar? Tell me more! Tell me more!

The article discussed in detail the number “Not Since Nineveh” that Cole choreographed for the Arabian-themed Hollywood film Kismet (1955) and it emphasized his use of clear signifiers of Indian dance. OK, I figured there would maybe be some Indian-inspired hand gestures, some pretty arm movements, some namaste hands….

...but nothing prepared me for THIS:

“Not Since Nineveh” - Kismet (1955) - Note: If you are unable to see the video due to your country location, please view it here.  

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dance in Hollywood so brilliantly inspired by the geometry and precision of Bharatanatyam! I’m simply in awe. The Indian inspiration coupled with the syncopated jazz music makes for a completely new visual experience. "Hindu Swing" indeed, though the coinage of the religious term "Hindu" instead of "East Indian" is curious and likely a product of the time period. The dancers Cole used were clearly up to the challenge of his rigorous choreography; Reiko Sato, the princess in the middle, steals the show with her forceful, perfectly controlled, and expertly embellished movements.  McLean, in an interesting take on the number, describes it and all other oriental Cole numbers as "unmarked transvestism" that Cole used as a "hidden" way to express his homosexuality (he was a closeted gay man); she notes how the princesses have fully-covered bodies and are masculine powerhouses with swords and gestures while the men are shirtless and dress rather femininely.  I think the number is simply perfect, but apparently Cole felt the editing left out "some of his best choreography" (TCM). You mean there's even more on the "cutting room floor"?!

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30 comments Bhaskar, Jack Cole, La Meri, Male Dance, Research, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Western Films

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

Gopi Krishna’s Tandav Dance: Bhookailas vs. Bhookailasa

I’ve long been hunting for Gopy Krishna’s tandava dance in the old Telugu film Bhookailas. When I finally got a copy of the DVD, I also discovered a copy of the old Kannada film Bhookailasa. At first I thought it must be a dubbed version of Bhookailas, but then I saw the DVD cover of the famous actor Rajkumar posing in the same iconic way as NTR. I was bemused! Was it a remake? Which one came first? And most importantly, did Gopi Krishna and Kamala have different dances in each version?

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15 comments Gopi Krishna, Kamala, Male Dance

Film Classical Dances of Sridhar

Surely I’m not the only one who watched the male dancer matching steps with Shobana in “Oru Murai Vanthu” from Manichitrathazhu and wondered who he was and if he’d done any other film dances.  The rare male classical dancer in film- always a treat!  It wasn’t until I ran across a comment at Varnachitram that identified the dancer as the Kannada actor Sridhar that I finally had a name to search with!  I was off to the races. 

Turns out Shridhar was quite a popular actor back in the 80s and early 90s and apparently acted in over 60 films in five languages (majority Kannada).  From what I’ve seen and read about, most of his films were either of the silly variety or mythologicals with a few award-winning films in the mix such as Santha Shishunala Shareefa in which he won the best actor award in Karnataka.  He was apparently particularly beloved in his recurring roles as Lord Shiva and became a "household name" in Andhra Pradesh for his role in the Telugu serial Shivaleelalu.   He had formal training in Bharatanatyam as a teen and went into films after college.

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11 comments Bharatanatyam, Male Dance, Revathy, Sridhar

Film Classical Dances of Vineeth

For some time, I've been curious to find all of Vineeth's classical dance numbers in film.  From what I've seen, he seems to be the best male classical dancer in Indian films, certainly surpassing the much more well-known Kamal Hassan.  Trained in Bharatanatyam from a young age and an award winner at Kerala youth festivals, he was clearly very talented from the start!

But there didn't seem to be that many film dances available of him, and I figured there must be hidden treasures lying in the archives of Malayalam cinema featuring such a great dancer.  Online resources and interviews weren't any help and only alluded to many unnamed films that contained his dances.  Even his official website is sparse and defunct.  So, I went on one of my obsessive research journeys through Vineeth's filmography and tracked down all of the DVDs and online clips available.  Imdb.com's filmography isn't complete, but malayalasangeetham.info helped fill in the rest (and is a fantastic resource for older Malayalam films that I learned of at the Old Malayalam Cinema blog).

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14 comments Bharatanatyam, Jyothika, Kathakali, Kavya Mahadevan, Male Dance, Vidya Balan, Vineeth

Tandav Dances in Indian Cinema

One of my favorite forms of dance in Indian films is the Tandav dance.  When I first saw the dance form, I was amazed by the passion and energy displayed despite the choreography appearing simplistic at first glance.

The dance's origin comes from Hindu mythology, a subject which I am so pitifully unknowledgeable about that I'm going to borrow a few sentences from Wikipedia to help me out:  "Tandava or Tandava Nrtya, the divine art form, is a dance performed by the Hindu god Shiva. According to Hindu mythology, Shiva’s Tandava is a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. While the Rudra Tandava depicts his violent nature, first as the creator and later as the destroyer of the universe, even of death itself; the Ananda Tandava depicts him as the enjoyer of his creation - the universe. Shiva as Nataraja (lit. "Lord of dance") is considered the supreme lord of dance. [...] No doubt the root idea behind all of these dances is more or less one and the same, the manifestation of primal rhythmic energy."

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22 comments Akshay Kumar, Balakrishna, Chiranjeevi, Girish Karnad, Gopi Krishna, Kamal Hassan, Kamala, Male Dance, Meenakshi Seshadri, Mohanlal, NTR, Sandhya, Sivaji Ganesan, Sridevi