Showing posts with label folk dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label folk dance. Show all posts

Wednesday 16 December 2020

The Great Dance Based Films of Bollywood



The very first movie fully Choreographed was Kalpana (1948) produced and directed by the renowned dancer Uday Shankar. In the same year, another film released was S S Vasan's Chandrakanta choreographed by Tarun Chopra, the disciple of Uday Shankar ji. With the success of both these films, the era of dance began in Hindi Cinema. Before that, a film Roti (1942) became hit because of Sitara Devi's Dance.
The story of Kalpana revolves around a young dancer’s dream of setting up a dance academy, It is a disguised autobiography of Uday Shankar. He presented dance in a captivating manner, and with a message that he wants India to be saved from the west and its bad influences.


V Shantaram was the earliest filmmaker who made films on dances and dancers of India. His film Jhanak Jhanak Baje Payal(1955) was one of the first Hindi films that revolved entirely around dance. Filmmaker-actor V Shantaram directed wife Sandhya and dancer Gopi Krishna in this classic. A young 17-year old Shivkumar Sharma too was heard playing santoor in this National award-winning film. This was also the first time santoor was used in Indian cinema. Magnificently shot in Technicolor, the film is considered a classic with hit songs such as Jhanak Jhanak Baaje Re More Palaliya, Jo Tum Todo Piya, and Murli Manohar. This too remains one of Ganesh Acharya's favourite dance films.


He made another film Navrang(1959), this film was heavily concentrated on the dance sequences, a few of these dances are immortal. Diwakar(Mahipal) is a poet and loves his wife Jamuna (Sandhya)more than anything. But Jamuna feels that Diwakar lives in a fantasy world and is irresponsible in the real world. Diwakar creates a muse from his imagination, who looks exactly like his wife and whom he calls Mohini.
Nartaki (1963) The story was about a dancing girl (Nanda) brought up in the Tawaif (courtesan) milieu, who wants to better herself with an education. She is helped amidst great societal clash, by a newly arrived Professor (Sunil Dutt).

Guide(1965) was a film based on a novel by R.K Narayan, Guide stars the legendary Dev Anand as Raju, a tourist guide who takes Indian and foreign visitors to historic locations and tells them stories about these magnificent places. Raju meets Rosy (Waheeda Rehman), the wife of his client whose passion is pursuing old caves. Rosie’s passion is dance. Raju helping Rosy find her feet as a dancer.  Rosy achieves stardom with the help of Raju. The film was known for its Kalbeliya dance sequence as also the song 'Piya tose naina lage re', which showed different folk dances from across India as also celebration of different festivals.


Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli (1971) is another V Shantaram's dance film. The heroine is madly in love with dance and refuses to marry the groom her father has chosen for her. She runs away and joins a dance troupe and there she finds a like-minded soul who is equally in love with dance.


.Pakeezah (1972) is another film based on a courtesan. The heroine is a courtesan, this was played by Meena Kumari. Though it’s said Meena Kumari was unwell to dance herself and hence Padma Khanna was used as a body double for songs requiring rigorous footwork.


Disco Dancer(1982) is a dance film but not on Indian classical dances but about disco songs and dances. Anil (Mithun Chakraborty) is an artist who earns his livelihood by performing on the streets. He was noticed by a Dance trainer and took him from the street and introduce him on the stage as Jimmy. Jimmy starts gaining popularity in Goa, so David arranges for a show in Mumbai. Mithun styled himself on John Travolta in the film and the plot points of the film too were kind of inspired by Saturday Night Fever.


Naache Mayuri is a 1986 dance biographical Hindi film directed by T. Rama Rao. It is a real story of Bharatanatyam dancer Sudha Chandran, who lost her leg in an accident on her way to Trichy to Chennai on June 1981. The story depicts how she received an artificial Jaipur Foot and eventually learned to dance again, triumphing over her fate, and ultimately becoming very successful in her life. 


Ilzaam is a 1986 film starring Govinda in his film debut He plays a criminal,  who sings and dances on the streets, distracting people, while his colleagues break into apartments and rob the residents. It was a box-office hit.


Dil To Pagal Hai(1997) The film follows the love lives of the members of a musical troupe, in which two dancers played by Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor compete for the love of a choreographer played by Shah Rukh Khan 



Taal (1999) is a story of Mansi(Aishwarya Rai) daughter of a poor spiritual singer named Tara Babu (Alok Nath). meets Vikrant Kapoor (Anil Kapoor), a successful and famous music producer/director, who happens to be a fan of Tara Babu's work. With the encouragement of her uncle Prabha, she signs a three-year contract with Vikrant, and Mansi performs dance numbers and remixes of Tara Babu's songs as well as some of Vikrant's productions. She wins awards and becomes a sensation in India. In the meantime, Vikrant starts to fall in love with Mansi.
Taal (1999), music and dance played such an important part in the movie.  The story of the film had a very common plot point which includes, poor girl and the rich guy falling love and the family disapproving of the relationship. But, what makes this movie so incredible, is exquisite dances. Costumes, art direction and music 


Aaja Nachle (2007), the movie is about a woman named Dia who tries everything to make sure the academy in which she learnt dance continues to survive. She takes it upon herself to come back to her village and save the dance institute. The film revolved around a dance drama, which Madhuri Dixit is conducting and the dance sequences in songs such as Aaja nachle is superb.Aaja Nachle was Madhuri’s comeback film in Bollywood.


ABCD: Anybody Can Dance (2013) is a film directed by Remo D Souza, a celebrity choreographer. Prabhu Deva and Remo D’Souza come together for a movie one thing you can expect for sure is amazing choreography and ABCD gave us just that. Prabhu in the movie was seen as a choreographer who is sacked from the academy he is working at. He then ends up creating his own dance group with the aim of beating his former employer in a prestigious dance competition.


In 2015, Remo directed the second instalment of ABCD Franchise, titled Disney's ABCD 2, It stars Varun DhawanShraddha KapoorPrabhu DevaRaghav JuyalLauren GottliebDharmesh Yelande and Punit Pathak, the film explores the career journey of Suresh and Vernon of the "fictitious dance crew" Kings United India, who went on to win the World Hip Hop Dance Championship in San Diego. 

Sunday 11 March 2018

Bollywood's Connection with Goa


It is said that Goa is a Darling of Bollywood.The magic that Goa has and Bollywood's Love for it has given us many memorable films and artists.Its sea.its sand,its people and its culture always fascinated Bollywood.  It won’t be too much to say that every director won’t mind or hesitate to capture some parts of Goa in their movie to enhance their films.Many films were made with Goa in its story. 
Goans played a major role in Bollywood music until the 1980s,Initially only Goans, having trained in Western music, knew how to compose music for orchestras, with a multitude of instruments playing in harmony.The biggest connection with Goa is Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle who are from Goa.
Farar

In 1955 a film Faraar starring Dev Anand and Geeta Bali has Goa Connection.The film is about revolutionaries fighting against British Rulers.
Johar Mehmood in Goa

It is a 1965 Bollywood comedy film directed by I. S. Johar with he himself, along with Mehmood and Simi Garewal playing the lead roles.The film is about a lady  Mary who gives birth to twins but leaves them on the doorsteps of two Goan households, one Muslim and another Hindu. Twenty four years later, India is a free country, while Goa is under the rule of the Portuguese. Ram and Rahim grow up to be members of underground resistance movement. Mary is the Mother Superior and Peter, who is still alive, is the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Goa, who is entrusted the task of catching Ram and Rahim who plan and execute series of anti-state activities
Saat Hindustani

Another movie for Goa Liberation from Portugal Govt was made in 1967 K A Abbas's Saat Hindustani.The first movie of Amitabh Bachchan.The story revolves arround seven people from different part of the country coming together to fight for liberation of Goa from the Portuguese.
Bombay To Goa

1972  adventure-comedy film directed by S. Ramanathan, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Aruna Irani in lead roles, Shatrughan Sinha as the main antagonist and Mehmood. The film is on a bus journey,adventurous with the passengers, a totally mixed bunch, from all over India, different religions, cultures, and faiths, all thrown together for this journey. The bus is in the "control" of driver Rajesh (Anwar Ali), and conductor, Khanna (Mehmood).
Bobby

A 1973 film a teen age love story between two Mumbai teenagers of different classes — Raj Nath (Rishi Kapoor), the son of a rich businessman Mr. Nath (played by Pran), and Bobby Braganza (Dimple Kapadia), the daughter of a poor Goan Christian fisherman Jack Braganza (played by Prem Nath).
 Pukar

a 1983 Bollywood film, directed by Ramesh Behl, starring Amitabh BachchanRandhir KapoorZeenat Aman and Tina Munim. It is a movie about freedom fighters trying to liberate Goa from the Portuguese.
Trikal

A 1985 film written and directed by Shyam Benegal, set in Goa during the early 1960s (pre liberation) Period.The movie revolves around the life and tribulations of a fictional Goan Christian family called "Souza Soares". 
Sagar

A 1985 film with a story of Mona (Dimple Kapadia) runs a small restaurant in Goa. Raja (Kamal Hassan), who lives close by, is a good friend. He is in love with her but is unable to profess his feelings. Ravi (Rishi Kapoor) is from a rich industrialist family who moves to Goa from the US. Mona and Ravi fall in love of which Raja knows nothing. Ravi's grandmother is opposed to their love because of class differences.
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa 

 A 1994 Indian Hindi romantic coming-of-age comedy film directed by Kundan Shah, and starring Shah Rukh KhanSuchitra Krishnamurthy, and Deepak Tijori. The film is based on Goan characters in Goa backdrop.
Khamoshi: The Musical

A 1996 film,The story is about Joseph (Nana Patekar) and Flavy Braganza (Seema Biswas), a deaf and mute couple in Goa.They have a baby girl, Annie and a boy named Sam, A few years later, after the tragic death of Sam, Annie's (Manisha Koirala) life is shattered and music and singing fades away. When Annie grows up she gets in touch with music once again — with Raj (Salman Khan) whom she falls in love with.
Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd

A 2007 film, plot revolves around six newly wed couples of different age groups who are celebrating their honeymoon in Goa. Directed by Reema Kagti, the film explores  themes such as homosexuality and superheroes. Majority of the film is set in Goa and includes famous location such as the Fort Aguada, Dona Paula, Our Lady of Mount Chapel and the Corjuem Fort.
Dum Maaro Dum

A 2011 film which is a crime film set in Goa and is directed by Rohan Sippy. It follows the story of a corrupt police officer who is entrusted with the duty of busting drug rackets. With an effort to keep the film as real as possible, Rohan Sippy shot a sequence at the Arpora market with an actual crowd of around 20 to 30 thousand people.
Go Goa Gone 

It is a 2013 Indian zombie comedy film directed by Raj and D.K.. The film features Saif Ali KhanKunal KhemuVir DasPuja Gupta and Anand Tiwari.Hardik (Kunal Khemu) and Luv (Vir Das) are two dope-heads, living with their roommate/friend Bunny (Anand Tiwari). After Hardik loses his job and Luv gets dumped by his girlfriend, both decide to tag along with Bunny to Goa to relax. In Goa, Luv falls for Luna (Puja Gupta), and she invites the guys to a rave party, organised by the Russian mafia, which is being held on a secluded island
Finding Fanny

It is one of the few recent films(2014) that managed to portray the true essence of Goa. Directed by Homi Adjania, the film portrays Goan characters settled in a fictional village in Goa. Adjania diverted from the cliche locations in Goa and instead opted for the lesser known side of Goa. The film is shot across Parra, Cortalim, Aldona, Assagao, Saligao and Socorro.

.Songs on Goa
Song from Bobby 1973


Song from Saagar 1985


Song from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na


                               Remo Fernandes and Alisha Chinai - Panch Vorsam


Song from Go Goa Gone


Song from Josh

Song from Finding Fanny




Friday 17 November 2017

Folk Dances in Bollywood


We are seeing a controversy in the latest film PADMAVATI,another controversy has emerged about the Ghoomar Dance by Deepika Padukone.In this context I think that Films are more of imagination than the reality,we should see films in that manner and appreciate its creativity.
Bollywood dance is a difficult topic to discuss.It is a mixture of numerous styles.No folk dance shown in films is exactly the same but it has many steps from other folks also.Films before 1960 tended to draw heavily on classical and folk dance.  Since neither "classical dance" nor "folk dance" are homogenous entities.In this blog I have selected some popular folk dances of Bollywood.
The common  folk dances are Bhangra, Rajasthani Folk, Garba, Dandiya, Bihu Lavani etc shown in our films.There are many hit songs and dances in bollywood are worth mentioning.
Song from Khajanchi 1941



Song from  Baadal 1951



Song from Pahli Jhalak (1954)


Song from Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje [1955]


Song from Shree 420 (1957)



Song from Kathputli 1957




Song from Naya Daur 1957



Song from Madhumati 1958



Song from  Mughal E Azam 1960


Song from Ganga Jamuna 1961



Song from Saraswatichandra 1968



Song from Bandhan  (1969)



Song from Bobby 1973



Song from Inkaar 1978



Song from  Lamhe 1991



Song from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam 1999



Song from Mission Kashmir 2000



Song from Zubeidaa 2001