The world of television, where serial makers resort to extreme steps to prolong the life of their shows, where TRP ratings are supreme and the consumer seems really to be the king, is not often considered the appropriate place to experiment. With the definition of ‘popular' wavering between infantile and sleazy, it is not often one sees art for art's sake being projected on the small screen. But Jaya TV's “Thaka Dhimi Tha”, a classical dance-based show that recently crossed 400 episodes over 10 years, is a smiling exception. The woman behind this small screen success story is Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher Radhika Shurajit. “It is my concept and direction. I also edit. It is my baby,” she says fondly, adding though, that she has a team. Moreover, over a decade of helping with the show, she says, the technical team is as adept at critiquing a Bharatanatyam performance as fulfilling its electronic duties.
“Thaka Dhimi Tha” is a competition for aspiring Bharatanatyam dancers. Part of its mission is to take classical dance to the masses in an entertaining way, but without diluting the classical aspect of the dance. Radhika recounts with relish not only the technically savvy reactions of her crew as they watch the dancers, but those of people in villages too, who quickly finish their chores to catch up with the Sunday morning telecast.
When they say things like, “Look at the way that dancer's elbows are sagging”, or “that one doesn't have a good aramandi,” Radhika feels she has at least partly achieved her goal of taking classical arts to a larger section of the population than comes to auditoriums to watch classical recitals.
Radhika says that about 4,000 dancers have participated in the show so far. And that is only the competitors. As for judges and mentors, everyone from Padma Subrahmanyam down has been there. “We've also had people who write on dance, like Chitra Mahesh and Nandini Ramani.” The participants apply from as far away as Europe and North America. They submit CDs to audition and if accepted, dance to recorded music, thus being saved the expense of hiring musicians and rehearsing with them.
It is a normal trend to invite choreographers from the commercial film world as judges on other dance shows one sees on television, but Radhika is clear they wouldn't fit into her format. “Finally it's a competition,” she notes, remarking that for the film world, “only looks would matter” and the intricacies of classical dance could not be discussed. Besides, with judges steeped in the knowledge of their art, each episode becomes a learning experience for the participants, whether they win or lose.
What has kept the glamour quotient high is Radhika's choice of anchors, including stars like Bhanupriya, Shobhana, Sukanya and Mohini — the latest being Sudha Chandran. However, each of these is a trained classical dancer along with being a celluloid star.
Radhika, a well known disciple of the Dhananjayans, is also known for choreographing film songs in Bharatanatyam style for the stage. She emphasises that she never deviates from or “dilutes” the form.
A feature of “Takadhimita” is its constant variety within the classical format. “We have had rounds like puzzles, impromptu dancing, fill in the blanks using words from Bharatam (the Bharatanatyam field), dancing to fusion music, Tamil music…You name it, we've done it.”
In between, the show feeds capsules of information on classical dance, given by eminent artistes like Chitra Visweswaran, Sudharani Raghupathy and others. In this section, information on other classical styles was also provided in some episodes, but Radhika never introduced a style other than Bharatanatyam in the competition. Because, she says frankly, she would not have a pool big enough, functioning from Chennai, of dancers from any other idiom. She would end up having “students of the same guru competing against each other.”
During the current Margazhi season where Chennai is agog with classical music and dance across the city, she thought of featuring two past episodes. One was of the time late Padmini appeared. “It was the last interview of Padmini on Jaya TV,” she notes. The other, due this coming Sunday, is of Vyajayanthimala Bali. A gala series of events is planned to celebrate the landmark of completing 400 episodes. These will be telecast from January.
With change and Bharatanatyam being the only constant, Radhika has bigger plans for “Takadhimita”. She wants to make it into a reality show format.
