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| 'Dance like a Man' By Aruna. S / Chennai |   | |||
| This is a movie that dancers would identify with . . .
Releasing this Friday (Oct.1) across India, the film in English is based on a play by Bangalore based Mahesh Dattani. And it is a production of NFDC and Rooks A.V. and is presented by Shringar Films. Starring Chennai-based actress-dancer Shobana, theatre artiste Arif Zakaria, Anoushka Shankar (daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar), Sameer Soni and Mohan Agashe in the lead, the film also features veteran dance guru U. S. Krishna Rao (of Bangalore) and Indira Rajan (of Chennai) in the roles of traditional dance practitioners.
A moving story on the challenges faced by a dance-couple in the 1970s, the film also provides an insight into the contemporary Indian social scene. Price of Passion
The crisp dialogues are powerful though in the message. Here is a sample: "When you do your abhinaya, you should feel like a woman and goddess within...and when you dance, you should feel like you want to destroy all the demons outside, because, there are so many demons outside..." The film is an adaptation of Mahesh Dattani's play which has seen 200 performances. It was first staged 18 years ago and when Dattani saw a screening of it for the first time, in Chennai on Thursday (Sep. 30), he said it was a moving experience and brought back feelings he experienced when he wrote it. The actors say...
Speaking to KutcheriBuzz, Shobana says, "Initially I was very sceptical about this role. Talking of classical music and dance, which is very close to my heart, I was very possessive about the script even before reading it. I didn't know the production team and I didn't want to be in a film, in case it didn't work. But, Pamela involved me in the film right from the beginning...the music, the dance choreography, which I insisted I would do and she trusted me. And with that kind of a working relationship, it was great and I'm really glad I took the film."
Arif Zakaria, a theatre and television artiste, is said to have trained in Bharatanatyam for almost a year in preparation for his role as a dancer in this film. He trained under Bharatanatyam dancer Deepak Mazumdar in Bombay before working with Shobana in this film. Zakaria told KutcheriBuzz, "It was very tough and challenging. Especially the body language of dance, the adavus, the postures and lines. After this experience I know why girls and boys start their dance training early in life. I tried to give it my best shot." And Anoushka Shankar, who has now turned her attention to sitar, is said to have trained in Bharatanatyam in her childhood. In the film, Anoushka clicks as a teenager in love, who is torn between her own wishes and the dreams of her parents. But, as a dancer...hmm. You decide if you like her dance! Heavy promos
And promoting the film in Chennai is a PR company called Pratika. Saturday last, at a special screening of the film for an invited audience at The Park Hotel in Chennai, were dancers Malavika Sarukkai, Priyadarshini Govind, Meenakshi Chittaranjan, Gopika Varma and Srekala Bharath. And Thursday, a day before the official release of the film was a hectic day for the production team. Press interviews galore were arranged at The Park. Hopping from one floor to the other and from lunch to coffee, flashing a smile for photographs and talking away with reporters were the foursome Pamela Rooks, Mahesh Dattani, Arif Zakaria and of course Shobana clad in a freaky pink jeans and a multi-coloured shirt that she could carry off so well. The missing element at The Park was Anoushka Shankar.
Chat sessions were scheduled too. At Land Mark, Spencers Plaza, Chennai. The foursome were poured with questions from the customers at the bookstore, and the lucky ones won tickets for the film. And in the evening, Studio 5 at Satyam Cinemas came alive, when the film was premiered. The screening was followed by another chat session that went on past 9 pm. You can check out the movie at:
Contact: Shringar Films Pvt. Ltd., 2/G, Naaz Cinema Building, Lamington Road, Mumbai- 400 004. Ph: 022-56372888 E-mail: aditya@shringar.co.in If you go out to watch this movie and have comments to share, mail us at editor@kutcheribuzz.com Your comments will be posted here. Here's a special quiz on this film. Lucky winners will get Doordarshan's VCD on Bharatanatyam, featuring top artistes and introduced by actress Shobana. | ||||
While the musical score is by well known violin duo Ganesh-Kumaresh, choreography for the dance sequences is by Shobana and Delhi-based dancer Rama Vaidhyanathan.
