Maanada Mayilaada Live!

Kala Master is a household name with the tremendous popularity of her dance reality show Maanada Mayilaada. She tells K. JESHI why Season 10 of the show is going to be extra special

March 05, 2015 07:20 pm | Updated 08:25 pm IST

Participants from Maanada Mayilada season 10

Participants from Maanada Mayilada season 10

A dance floor transformed into a breezy Vaazhai Thoppu complete with 2000 vaazhai marams. It was one of the much talked about sets from Maanada Mayilada , a dance reality show on Kalaignar TV. “We also introduced graphics on the dance floor, a first on any dance reality show,” says Kala master, the producer and director of the show.

Eight years, 10 seasons, 64 sets….that’s the journey of Maanada Mayilada , recounts Kala as she gears up for a bigger and grander Season 10. “Snow fall, water fall, railway station, rains bucketing down, a buzzing airport (exclusively designed by Thota Tharani)… you name it and we have recreated them on our show. Our innovative sets have been one of the highlights,” she says.

Season 10 is different from the word go, she says. The preliminary rounds were recorded live for three hours. “We selected 11 couples for the finals. Among the finalists, many are from Coimbatore. Besides them, there is a boy from Belgaum, one from Kashmir and we have a couple from France too. I went to Switzerland and chose them from 60 couples who had auditioned. We have participants from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” smiles Kala. Actors Srikanth and Meena have come on board as the new judges. In the previous seasons Kala has judged the show along with Khusbhoo and Namitha.

The eliminations will be live and conducted in different cities. The first stop is Coimbatore. “It is my favourite city. When we publicised telephone numbers on the show we got about 10,000 calls in two weeks. Most of the callers are homemakers and students who wanted to watch the show live. And, here we are.”

She says the show brought the excitement back to cinematic dance forms. “Dance is a form of yoga. It keeps you fit and healthy. In films, the Travancore sisters (Padmini, Lalitha and Ragini) introduced Bharatanatyam, and then later we had break dance, disco, and folk. MM had a number of rounds starting from the 60s to highlight different dance forms and styles,” she says.

For many youngsters, the show is a launch pad to enter films. Bobby, title winner of the dance show Maanada Mayilada season 7 made his debut in the Tamil film Ennamo Edho . “Most of them are familiar with hip hop or street dance styles; we expose them to contemporary folk, classical and other forms. We nurture talent; not just in dance but also in acting, expressions… it gives them the confidence to face the camera when they start out. On a live show, some of them even dance for a stretch of 12 minutes,” she mentions.

Kala started off as a dance choreographer when she was 16 in K. Balachandar’s film Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal . She has been in the industry for 25 years, worked in 1200 films, choreographed over 10,000 songs in almost all Indian languages, won a National award (for Kochu Kochu Santhosangal), State award for the Ra Ra…song from Chandramukhi , Filmfare award for Azhagan and several other awards.

Her dance school Kalalaya, set up in the 80s, has groomed many stars including Ajith, Surya, Jeyam Ravi, Simbu, Arya, and Trisha. “It was hectic. I was doing back-to-back films. There have been days when I have headed straight from the airport to the studios. When I had a baby, I wanted to slow down and that’s when I got an opportunity from Kalaignar TV to make a dance reality show,” she says.

The choreographer, who is trained in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak, also conceptualised the trend of star nite shows. Next step was television. “TV has made me a household name. The reach is phenomenal. When I appear on television, they connect with me at a personal level, as one of their family members. In films, I have to give a hit once in every six months or so. With TV, I have to give a hit every week. We have completed over 325 episodes now. From day one, we offered something new in form of sets, costumes, rounds… even the colloquial Tamil words like ‘ kili, kili, kili’ which we use to appreciate dancers with became popular. There are fans who have compiled CDs of all the nine seasons of the show.”

The live elimination round is on April 11 at CODISSIA Trade Fair Grounds.

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