Style to Odissi dancer Saswat Joshi is the easiest way to feel confident and look beautiful.
The enterprising 30-year-old wears many hats with ease. Apart from being a well known dancer and choreographer, he is a model and actor as well. A gold medallist from the Prachin Kala Kendra and Sangeet Ratna from the Rabindra Bharati University, he trained under Gurus Shantanu Behera and Prashant Pattnaik in Titilagargh. Later he came under the wing of Kumkum Mohanty and is now blossoming under the tutelage of Ileana Citeristi.
He has performed in all the major festivals and walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival for Sandrine de Costa’s documentary on Odissi. His foray into Bollywood made news when he trained Deepika Padukone for “Goliyon ki Raasleela – Ramleela” The bubbly young dancer is conscious of his fantastic stage presence and discusses how he is pushing his dreams further.
Don’t you feel a contradiction between your image as a classical dancer and a model and film personality?
Well, an artist can become all depending on when and how he wants to put himself and present himself . In spite of my different professional roles, ultimately people recognise me as an Odissi dancer. This makes me happy. Why can’t an Odissi dancer have many facets to his/her personality? There is no doubt that glamour matters. If our audience have the conviction to accept it, why not?
Being an Odissi dancer why did you choose to be in the glamour world? Does it affect your image as a dancer?
I am open to everything which is related to art. As for the glamour world, I had a fascination for it since my childhood. My parents wanted to make me a model but at that time they did not realise that Odissi dance is already in my blood and soul. In fact, I also realised it much later. I did my first photo shoot with fashion photographer Jagdish Mali when I was just 15-years-old. After the shoot my father was very happy and thought that I will be a Bollywood actor but nothing of that sort happened. The best thing was that he had sponsored the whole amount. That means he had a dream to put me into the glamour world. Ultimately, I became an Odissi dancer. Everywhere I am being portrayed as an Odissi dancer. So why and where is my image going down?
How did Aekalavya start?
Aekalavya started in 2009 after I left the Odissi Research Centre. Around 2004, I was lost with no support, no godfather and the whole world was totally blank for me. Then accidentally I met Ileana madam through one of my friends. After I saw her I realised that the light of my life had come. So without any hesitation I started learning from her. Apart from performing all over the world, I tried to learn many good things. And one is organising a classical dance festival for your guru. That’s how Aekalavya started.
Your support was mainly from the entertainment world. How much is it from the classical dancers?
Although I am into Odissi I don’t mix with dancers. I have chosen my world in another way. All my friends belong to different professions. They understand my effort and hard work. My guru Ileanaji supports me financially every year for Aekalavya. That’s the beauty of a real artist. If we don’t support our younger generation then how will they take the art forward?
