One often falls short of words when it comes to describing the seminal works of Pandit Birju Maharaj. It is akin to holding a candle to the sun when one begins to talk about his innovative yet deeply rooted body of work. He brought Kathak to international proscenium and brought its classical flavour to popular cinema. From Satyajit Ray to Kamal Haasan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, creative souls whose works have an aesthetic appeal, always look up to Maharaj to choreograph their vision on celluloid. The man with an undying spirit, who still believes in teaching his countless students directly at his school Kalashram, recently trained Deepika Padukone for Bajirao Mastani song “Mohe Rang Do Laal”. It is set on one of Maharaj’s own performance on Avadhi Brijwasi thumri, “Balma Re Chunaria Maiko Lal”.
Edited experts from a conversation:
On challenges in choreographing for films
There is no continuation! For stage the entire choreography flows in a systematic particular order. But for screen, maybe, they shoot the last portion first, maybe the middle, maybe the legs first then the eyes, maybe the reverse…‘hum toh isi asmanjhas mein rehte hain ki pehle pair le liya phir aanken, yeh dikhega kaise screen par’! But Sanjay bhai is extremely meticulous in his working style and explains in minute details all the shots, after which there is absolute clarity and then it’s for the audiences to decide how much they like what they see on screen.
On the difference between working with Madhuri and Deepika
“Madhuri is such a seedha (simple) and imaandar (honest) artist that after every shot in Devdas she used to come and sit with me and Sanjay and closely look at every shot and more than often said that she didn’t like the particular shot and we ended up reshooting to our heart’s content, unless perfection was achieved.
Deepika was extremely hard working too, but her background in Bharatanatyam was a tad difficult to undo. We rehearsed so much that now I think whichever dance she’ll do, she’ll bring the flavours of Kathak. Even in “Pinga” song Deepika holds a perfect Kathak hastak, despite the fact that the song was essentially Maharashtraian folk. Humne itna zyada use Kathak ke rang main rang diya hai !
On working with Satyajit Ray, Kamal Haasan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Satyajit Da and Sanjay bhai, both are extremely humble and have a hawk’s eye for detail. Since Sanjay is trained in Odissi, he understands the intricate aesthetics of dance. Satyajit babu was also such a connoisseur of dance that once he just put a single black screen in the shot and when I asked why not more, he said he didn’t want to hide the dancer and wanted to make sure that even a single nail of the dancer is visible.
Kamal too in Vishwaroopam portrayed a real-to-life cinema when he had to show a Kathak class/rehearsal in motion. Sirf ek choti aur bilkul na ke barabar make up! My students used to cry when Kamal bhai used to swipe their make up away each time they put it on. Par sahi baat hai, hum kabhi bhi make up karke rehearsal nahi krte, aur unhone bhi wahi kiya .
About their humility, once I remember, on Satyajit babu’s sets of Shatranj Ke Khiladi a nail was to be dug in a plank, he told the spot boy to relax and took the hammer from him and did it by himself!
On his amusing tryst with technology
You know the entire song of “Mohe Rang Do Lal” was shot in a studio. Though the set was magnificent and often reminded me of the gorgeous sets of Mughal-e-Azam with mirrors and extravagant fountains, I, for once, was not able to make any sense of the huge green screen at the back of it all. I said to Sanjay, “Everything is marvellous, but what is this green thing at the back?” He laughed and said, “Maharajji movie release hone ke baad dekhiyega !” (See after the movie releases). And I was astounded to see this opulent fort in the background when the movie finally released.
Although all this is great, but I do not like the technology used in music production today. There was a time when Naushad Sahib got 100 violin players to do one song. What a glorious scene it was! Lata bai had to stand in a bathroom and sing to record an echo for Mughal-e-Azam . Everything back then was original to the T, but today even a ‘besura’ can sing to his heart’s content. And that disappoints me, but experiences like the green screen incident makes me smile too!
Interesting anecdotes while choreographing…
Well, there are so many like there were for Devdas , where Madhuri’s lehenga was 40 kilos heavy and she couldn’t even dance! For the song I shot with Deepika, I’ll share something very recent, just two days ago Sanjay called me up to tell that Waheeda Rehman and Asha Parekh loved the choreography! They understand the beauty and that is what gives me utter satisfaction.
On the future of Indian classical dances
I feel that films will play a vital role in taking the dances forward and spreading them. When we dance for stage 10,000 might watch. When we dance for films crores of people watch and are inspired to learn dance. You know the song “Kahe Chhed Mohe” is used in every single dance competition. Not only in India, people in the U.S. and the U.K. and elsewhere too know it by heart! That is how Kathak will spread and flourish. Having said that I must also add whenever I choreograph for films I do it with utter commitment towards my dance. It is pure to the core without any dilution, is highly refined, and I do not ever tone it down to the level of the individual heroine. I rather strive hard and bring her level up to the mark that they can represent the true beauty of our dance to the world.
With this kind of commitment, and these technological advancements (smiles reminiscently), Indian classical dances have a great future ahead!
