Ahmedabad (Gujarat), March 19, 2012: It was an evening to remember as Padma Vibhushan Pt Birju Maharaj gave a mesmerising performance, making the audience spellbound. The internationally acclaimed Kathak dancer was in town on Sunday to perform at the eight-day-long Jain Mahotsav at Sanskar Kendra.
Talking about his performance at such a Jain event, Pt Maharaj said how he was so happy to perform. “This is the first time that I’ve got an opportunity to perform a dance sequence in front of Rushabhdev Tirthankar. Because of my intimate relations with this family, I’ve come here.” Pt Maharaj, through his dance, presented the fight between Bharat and Bahubali.
He told DNA how classical dance is different from today’s Bollywood dance. “First of all, classical shouldn’t be called a dance. We present various expressions on abstract music, which has no meaning and no name. Interestingly, the sound and the expression depict the feeling of love or anger and hence the entire katha can be presented,” he said. He said that when we revolve, it means a kind of wind is blowing and through hands, water and other five elements of earth are explained.
About his visit to Ahmedabad, he said: “I have come to this city several times. The city has certain values and is important as it was a part of Lord Krishna’s reign over Dwarka.”
When asked if he is still considering offers from Bollywood, he said that after a long time he has returned to Bollywood and has choreographed Kamal Hassan for a movie ‘Vishwaroopam’ which is bi-lingual- Tamil and English. “I’ve done many Bollywood movies earlier like Mughal-e-Azam, Shatranj ke khiladi, Devdas, and others. In those movies, eyes danced and presented various expressions. But in today’s movies, the entire body dances except the eyes.” – News Courtesy: DNA India