“When the world was steeped in disillusion, Brahma the
Creator was asked by the people to create an Art that was to entertain and
enlighten, an art that was to be seen and heard by all, as the Vedic Scriptures
were too grave and ambiguous to be understood and enjoyed by one and
all.”
Bharatiya
Natyashastra
Therefore the creation of dance performance for the masses
came into existence, which is the Bharatiya Natyashastra, a
sacred treatise on dance.
Dancing is crucial to India, because dance is such an
important part of the Indian psyche. The Hindu faith which is regarded as being
a way of life states that the very Universe was created through the dance of
Lord Shiva, and that its preservation, destruction and further creation is all
part of the harmonious dance of Lord Shiva as Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance.
Bollywood films as a medium brought various dance forms to the masses.
In a vast subcontinent like India, Bollywood at one time was the sole
ambassador of all the classical forms especially to dancers who did not have
access to see and learn many dance forms because of their geographic location
or cultural background.
Bollywood dance, is often set to songs which are potent with
meaning. Hence the dance,
while being fun and energetic and an amalgamation of various styles from all
over the world, has to retain its original gestural language, in order to express
the lyric content of the song, which will then bring the story or mood of the
film to the desired level. In Bollywood movies, the dancer or the actor has to
feel, interpret and act the storyline or the lyric content of the song to take
the story forward.
For my item song “Jai Gangajal” that was
what was desired of me and that’s precisely what I did. I was my natural self
and was seamlessly woven into the film with ease. Admittedly, cinematic dance
requires lots of takes and retakes it has been a wonderful experience so far.
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