Truly a gifted artiste — Ranjana Gauhar

There are some artistees who dance, some who act and there are some who paint but there are very few who can dance, paint and act. Such an artiste is rare to find. One such rare gem is Ranjana Gauhar who is not only an accomplished Odissi dancer but even a painter and an actor par excellence.

Multi-faceted Ranjana has been honoured with the prestigious Padmashree Award in 2003 for her longstanding services in the field of Odissi dance. She is also the recipient of the National Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from the President of India in 2007, Senior Fellowship for her research in the temple tradition of Odissi dance by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award and Mahari Award in 2007 and many other accolades.

This superbly talented lady was born in Delhi and her tryst with Odissi began quite early in life. Ranjana’s thirst for innovation took her to different forms and mediums of art. As a child, she dabbled in painting, dance and theatre. But it was Odissi that finally captured her heart and soul and she trained under the legendary Guru Mayadhar Raut. She sharpened her sensitivities by taking up philosophy for graduation and English literature for MA and enriched her experience as a dancer by also learning Kathak and Manipuri dance styles.

Ranjana views life as an extension of her dance. She has perfected and honed her skills in Odissi to create her own distinctive style and signature in the art form. She has even experimented with Chhau dance — Orissa’s martial art form — and successfully blended it with her own inimitable style of Odissi.

‘Utsav’ is Ranjana’s Odissi dance company comprising dedicated, focused and committed young artistes who have been personally trained under her expert guidance . The dance company has won appreciation of the audiences, critics and art lovers at several events and festivals in India and abroad. Some of them are: Kalidas Samaroh (Ujjain), Nishagandhi Festival (Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala), Alwa’s Virasat Festival (Mangalore), Triveni Mahotsav (Allahabad), International Conference “Namaste” (Hyderabad, ICCR festival, HCL Concert series at IHC, Festival in Kuwait, Konark Festival and many more. In September 2010, the repertory performed a series of dance recitals for ICCR’s festival of India “Namaste France” in France and in Europe. Ranjana conceptualises and designs performances of India’s centuries old traditions of philosophy, mythology and spirituality to suit the modern mindset.

She has also produced and directed a number of professional ballets depicting contemporary and mythological themes. Her ballet ‘Trimudra’ has a distinct language, grammar and technique. Yet there are elements that are common to all. These are strung together through the medium of laya (rhythm), bhava (expression), and mudra (poses). They are presented as a composite whole in this presentation because of their similar history, variety in style and content as well as close relationship they share in their common cultural roots.

‘Ksheer Sagar-The Might of the Ocean’ weaves together two Indian mythological narratives — Chandrabhaga and The Matsya Avatar. Though diverse thematically, they portray the might of the ocean.

Jayadeva’s dramatic lyrical poem “Sri Geet Govindam,” a love song of the dark lord is described as the last of the ancient and the first of the modern Sanskrit poetry. “Sri Geet Govindam” is a unique work in Indian literature and the poem is dedicated to the intense and passionate love of Lord Krishna and Radha.

‘Chitrangada’ a dance drama is inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s vision and his sensitivity to portray “the complete woman” as one who personifies love, courage and substance, Ranjana ji, pays homage to the genius of Rabindranath Tagore through her presentation of his dance drama Chitrangada

Ranjana is an independent film producer, researcher and scriptwriter and has successfully produced many television serials, films, and documentaries. “Saundarya Lahari” is a 5-episode serial, based on “Sri Geet Govindam” of the 12th Century poet, Jaidev was commissioned by Doordarshan, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India to this dynamic dancer. So was other productions like “Prerna”, “Manas Mandir” and “Odissi Chandrika”.

“Nectar in Stone’ is a film depicting the cultural relations of India with Vietnam and Cambodia through ancient Hindu Temples which was Commissioned to her by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. “The Celestial Dancer” in the Temple of Jagannath was commissioned by the Ford Foundation and “Nupur” was an independent production for The Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Ranjana has travelled with her art of Odissi dance across the length and breadth of the country. She has participated in prestigious dance festivals including Khajuraho Festival, Kalidas Festival in Ujjain and Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale Centenary Festival at Kalakshetra. This cultural ambassador of India has performed at the Festival of India, Queen Elizabeth Royal Festival Hall, The Royal Hall of Plymouth, the Commonwealth Institute, Oxford university, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Dahlem Museum, Berlin, West Germany besides having performed in other cities in Germany, Italy, France, Greece, Serbia, Cyprus, Kuwait, Switzerland, Tunisia, Yugoslavia, Japan the Netherlands, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Croatia and Latin American Countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico.

Her contribution to the propagation of Odissi is her book titled Odissi — The Dance Divine, released in February, 2007. Her latest offering is ‘Tejasa — Women from the Ramayana’. Through Tejasa, Ranjana will depict a facet of this epic which is completely novel in its approach and presentation. Four women of the Ramayana — Sita, Kaikeyi, Surpanakha and Mandodari —each narrates her story, from her individual and personal point of view. Each of their stories reflects the composite nature, conflicts and compulsions of a woman as well as her inherent strength and claim to dignity and respect.

The content is drawn from the main texts of the Ramayana and enriched by the innumerable other local variations of the epic. The script for this ballet is written by Suryakanthi Tripathi. The music director and composer is Saroj Mohanty, while the artistes presenting the ballet are Ranjana Gauhar (Odissi-Sita), Uma Dogra (Kathak-Kaikeyi), Gopika Varma (Mohiniyattam - Surpanakha), Deepika Reddy (Kuchipudi-Mandodari) and the show’s technical director is Sandeep Dutta

I am writing this article today to wish Ranjana all the very best for her upcoming shows of Tejasa and at the same time want to thank her for simply being a true artiste who has dedicated her life to art and through her dance, painting and acting has inspired dancer world over.

Sandip Soparrkar is a well known ballroom dancer and a Bollywood choreographer who has been honoured with National Achievement and National Excellence Award by the Govt of India. He can be contacted on sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com.