Talk at Cannes about dance in Bollywood

Cannes film festival is the most talked about film festival in the world. It is the place where filmmakers, directors, producers, actors, technicians and everyone who is involved with cinema comes together to celebrate one common interest and that is films. This year’s 69th Cannes film festival was no less compared to its previous editions. The who’s who of the world of cinema was present at Cannes this year and each person was there for a reason, be it their film promotion, looking for a buyer for their upcoming films or representing their country at this most talked about film festival.

I feel humbled to inform you that I was invited to the 69th Cannes film festival as the ‘Indian Dance Ambassador’ to give a talk on ‘Dance in Bollywood and its changing trends’. This was my third outing to the French Riviera and the best one I must admit. I was told that filmmakers and press from world over would be my audience and that I should carefully handle their over-enthusiastic question and answer round.

Dance has always been the soul of Bollywood films. We are 103 years old but our movies are incomplete without their song and dance routines. Be it birth or dead, be it happiness or sadness, we Indians express it through dance and that is why our films are a reflection of who we are. But how this reflection has changed over the period of time in cinema was a difficult task to put into words. For a dancer it is simple show it through dance but to speak about it and verbalise the change of trends becomes a bit difficult.

I would like to thank Ms Leena Jaisani and her fantastic team of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for guiding me for how I should conduct my talk in front of an international audience. Also this talk would not have been possible without two wonderful people who were my panellists for this session: actress Pooja Batra and classical dancer Raghunath Mane.

I began my talk by introducing my co-panellists and giving their short background information and how they have been a part of Bollywood for a long time. Then a short film was shown which took the audience through various dances that have been and are now a part of Bollywood films.

Post the film screening I took to the mike, talking about how we initially had silent film, and then later how the first lady of Indian cinema, Devi Rani, danced more with her eyes and face, and dance was shown more through expression in the films of the 1920’s. A lot of our films in the 1930s were either based on social issues or mythology, so there was a lot of classical dance in our cinema.

Accomplished dancers like Sitara Devi entered cinema and did bring a few international dance forms on the celluloid. She performed Russian classic Ballet in the 1942 film Hulchal and Hawaii Hula dance in the 1951 film Roti. In the 1962 film Half Ticket, Spanish Paso doble music was used, however, all these song and dance numbers were just one off pieces to add a Western feel to a film.

Actor dancers like Gopi Kishan and Sandhya Shantaram made classical dance a household name with film like Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. Lead actors like Prithvi Raj Kapoor and Ashok Kumar never really moved like Hrithik Roshan and Shahid Kapoor. Yet Bhagwan Dada gave hit after hit and was called the first dancing actor of Bollywood. His moves in the song Bholi Surat Manke Khote are still danced by one and all. Actors like Vyjayanthimala and Hema Malini came into films trained in classical dance and for a long time danced to many classical-based and folk-based numbers. Songs like Jhumka Gira Re Chadgayo papi Bichooa helped folk dances from various part of India enter Bollywood.

The real transition came in 1970s with R.D. Burman, Asha Bhosle and Helen creating magic on the screen. If Hollywood had Brazilian actor dancer singer Carmen Miranda coming up with hit moves, we in Bollywood had Helen, who became the first item girl of Indian cinema. Her cabaret dance numbers were more or less compulsory in every film in the 1970s, followed by Bindu, Aruna Irani and Kalpana Iyer introducing the country to international moves and the latest apparel. Cabaret ruled Bollywood for over a decade.

And then when John Travolta made Saturday Night Fever, our very own Mithun Chakraborty, dressed in golden pants and jacket and with his unforgettable pelvic thrusts, brought in Disco into India as the new age dance.

After Disco, Govinda brought in Break Dance in the 1980s and then Shah Rukh Khan with his charisma introduced Broadway Jazz in Dil Toh Pahal Hai in the 1990s. Post that there was no looking back for international dances in Bollywood.

I feel humbled to say that in the Karisma Kapoor and Rekha-starrer Zubaidaa and the Aamir Khan film Mangal Pandey: The Rising I introduced English Classic Waltz, in the Hrithik Roshan film Kites’I brought in Street Dance. We also managed to show Tango and Russian Folk dance Kozachok in the Priyanka Chopra film Saat Khoon Maaf. Of late, with films like ABCD 1 and ABCD 2, hip-hop is ruling the dance scene in Bollywood.

This does not mean that classical and folk dances have been left behind or they are not being used in Indian Films. Devdas, Bajirao Mastani and Ram Leela were all super hit movies that had loads of folk and classical dances in them and their dance moves are remembered till today.

Pooja Batra further added that for an actress learning dance is very important as most actresses have to dance in Bollywood films. Pooja said, “I have worked with the best choreographers including Saroj Khan and it made me realise how important dance was for me and for my career.” She further added that Folk dances were her favourite and she loved to dance to Bhangra and Marathi folk numbers.

Classical dancer Raghunath Mane said that “Study of Navarasa is very important for an actress or even for an actor, it helps them to emote well for any song, be it Indian classical, folk or western dance.” He even said that ‘if choreographers study bhav and navarasa it will add more value to the dance piece they choreograph in cinema today.”

After all the intellectual and serious talk about dance, I closed my talk by saying “If you wish to see the world unite and come together on one single platform then one should see a Bollywood film, because our films transport us to another world, a world which is filled with magnificent dreams. We in Bollywood make dreams come true.”

Pooja, Raghunath and I thanked the audience and while we were answering their inquisitive questions, a French lady got up and said, “This session cant be over so fast, it’s incomplete without us learning some Bollywood moves.” The crowd requested me to teach them some fun-filled latest moves. The dancer in me took over and I played the track Ladki Beautiful Kargaye Chull and the crowed danced like there was no tomorrow.

Many international journalists met me post the session and said it was the most informative and fun-filled session of the festival. Apart from the talk I walked the most talked and most scrutinised red carpet dressed in cloths by Deepak Shah of More Mischief and jewellery by Dev Balani of Malkish. It makes me feel truly humbled that Cannes film festival in association with Ficci invited me for a talk and gave me an opportunity to be the ‘Indian Ambassador of Dance’ at such a prestigious event.

Sandip Soparrkar can be contacted on sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com