While some people learn to dance, Sajna Najam, it seems, was born to dance, instinctively moving to the beat, letting the song guide her hands and feet into unstudied expressions of the self. It’s this rather unusual approach to dance, to life even that has made the city-based, mother of two grown-up daughters, into one of Kerala’s hottest choreographers, on stage, on TV and now, in films too, all in a relatively short period of time.
“I am a bit shy about getting up on stage. I actually enjoy being behind the scenes, directing things. And that’s why I like choreographing so much. It allows me to keep my interest in dance alive and quietly express my creativity without worrying about who is going to see me or how I will look!” says Sajna.
However, when we meet up with her on one of her rare days off, Sajna is anything but shy. In fact, she comes across as wonderfully frank, nonchalant even as she chills out in her tastefully decorated home, looking very earth mother-like, dressed fashionably in a ghera skirt and top, her long tresses flowing, silver bangles piled high on her arm, tinkling.
The choreographer and her troupe of dancers, known as ‘Zarinans’ performed in Kochi recently where they danced at a promo event to celebrate the release of Vikram-starrer I . “We had just a day’s notice and we managed to present a medley of the film’s songs with 100 dancers. The highlight was when Vikram and heroine Amy Jackson danced with us. I am very proud of my young team for pulling it off,” says Sajna.
She and her team have almost completed work on Jayasurya-starrer Kumbasaram , directed by Aneesh Anwar and are now working on Dileep-starrer Chandrettan Evideya , directed by Sidharth Bharathan, only her fifth film as choreographer, after debuting with Vikramadithyan last year. She has also choreographed a couple of numbers for the upcoming Tamil flick Kelvi , starring Sada. “Like much of the things that happened in my career thus far, choreographing for films was an unexpected turn,” says the choreographer.
Although Sajna never had formal training in dance, she says it’s been with her from the beginning. “As a three-year-old, I remember accompanying my father to our family theatre in Chirayinkeezh and dancing whenever a song came on screen. The people in the audience would notice and clap in appreciation,” she recalls. “However, apart from a handful of performances during my school days [Jyothi Nilayam] and later for Malayali association get-togethers while living in Saudi Arabia, I did not get much of an opportunity to dance,” adds the 43-year-old, harking back to the year 2000 when life took its first unexpected turn when the homemaker suddenly found herself entrusted with choreographing a folk dance for a youth fete at her children’s school, Holy Angel’s Convent (ISC).
“I had taught my older daughter, Neemah, a Goan dance for a function at school and the Principal Sister Helen was so impressed that she asked me to replicate it as a group dance,” recalls Sajna.
“As I began getting more requests to teach dance, I started Zarinan Dance Studio in 2001,” she adds. Her first breakthrough was when she was asked to choreograph an ad featuring a bunch of children, followed a bit later by a stage show at Attukal temple with 30 dancers, including Poornima Indrajith nee Mohan. “I had to travel back to Saudi Arabia for a few months and by the time I returned the troupe was in shambles and my morale was at an all time low. It was my students – a bunch of guys who were then in class 12 – who gave me the courage to go for it again,” she says. “I have a good rapport with youngsters, they keep me young and on my toes! Most of the members in my troupe have been with me since the beginning,” says Sajna.
Starting with choreographing the dances in the background for the first season of Idea Star Singer on Asianet and Super Star and Super Star Global on Amrita TV and the likes, and, more recently, Indian Voice on Mazhavil Manorama, Sajna quickly became the darling of reality shows. She progressed to choreographing mega stage shows featuring celebrities for channels, organisations and associations, allowing her to build up a network of contacts, before turning her attention to films. “I’ve never been one to go in search of projects. I just make sure jump when I get the opportunity,” she says, with a twinkle. “I entered the film industry at the right time, I feel. Mollywood has for long been the domain of choreographers from Tamil for a variety of reasons and there was very little opportunity for home-grown talent. Now, things are changing and there is much scope for newcomers like me,” she says. However, she adds that her first love will always be the stage. “Working on films is fine and dandy and it’s a necessity career-wise, but it does involve a lot of waiting around. I cannot sit still for too long and it bores me silly to wait around while everyone and everything gets ready. I enjoy the thrill, intimacy and challenge of the stage much more,” she explains.
While Sajna has a lot of other films lined up, including several in Malayalam and one each in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, exploring the boundaries of choreography is not her ultimate ambition. “I want to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather M.A. Rashid and produce a movie under his banner Khadija productions. Actually, I’d like to direct a movie too. You know, life has a wonderful way of turning out the way I will it to. So, you will soon see me at the helm!” Watch this space.
