The periodic buzzing of her phone punctuates Mayuri Upadhya's words as she talks about working with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on his recent film Mirzya .
The reason being that she is already hard at work on her next project, a musical adaptation of the critically-acclaimed Mughal-e-Azam for stage.
“The costumes for the show have just come in, and I have to pick outfits,” she says apologetically, returning to the conversation.
While Mayuri has a rather impressive resume as a dancer, having choreographed government functions for the Prime Minister and helped Amitabh Bachchan bring to stage his father’s poetry collection Madhushala , Mirzya marks her debut in Bollywood as a choreographer.
“It happened in a very organic way, Rakeysh Mehra had seen me at the Madhushala performance and kept that in mind, so when he started work on the film he reached out to me,” says Mayuri, explaining that it was a challenge for her to adapt and produce something specifically for the camera. “The dynamics of stage are different from that of the camera. Stage is about a sense of projection, balance, aesthetics and endurance, while for film you can focus and compose something just for the dancer to showcase on camera.”
She adds that the biggest help she had was how open Rakeysh was about sharing his vision with her, even giving her script readings. “Everyone I worked with is a legends in their own field, from Gulzar saab to Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Raju Sundaram, who understands how to choreograph for camera. The movement design was completely left to us.” The results of their work have garnered much praise, and Mayuri is still getting used to the feeling of seeing her name on the big screen. “When your name flashes next to those of the kind of people I worked with, you feel proud, humble and embarrassed all at once. It was quite special.”
She is now hard at work on the Mughal-e-Azam musical, being organised by the National Centre of Performing Arts and the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, who backed the original film as well. Mayuri is of the opinion that, while stage performance of this scale is still a very niche thing, audiences are warming up to it, as they are a logical extension from the musical nature of our films. “The stage comes with its own characteristics, and when everything comes together well, the delight in the eyes of the audience is visible to all. A live performance is something everyone should experience at least once. For Mughal-e-Azam we will have 30 Kathak dancers performing on stage."
With more awareness and opportunities available, she says the number of people taking up dance is also increasing. “In India, art is a luxury, not a necessity, so it is not considered viable. Girls are taught dance at a young age as part of their grooming, for poise and grace, but most of them end up getting jobs and getting married. It is now easier to find male dancers as they do not have as many responsibilities. The trend is changing slowly. Now what we need is for all the people involved in different forms of dance to come together and take things forward.”
Speaking of going forward, Mayuri’s main focus is on the musical, which premieres in Mumbai on October 21. And what happens after that? “I am working on creating a forum for dancers to come together and am also involved in art research and education. Beyond that, I don’t mind more Bollywood for a director with a vision, like a Sanjay Leela Bhansali or Mani Ratnam,” she says with a smile. “Right now, however, I am getting asked to design entire presentations instead of just acts, so the idea of being a creative visualiser for events is something I am definitely considering.” As the conversation winds to a close, she reaches for her phone again, ready to get back to work drawing the connections between costume and performance, slowly forming a vision to grace the stage for many a day.
