Kannadasan's film-hits in Bharatanatyam
By Aruna. S / Chennai

"It was a sea of humanity," said one of the dailies in Chennai. A cliche perhaps. Just apt for the crowd that thronged The Music Academy for All India Radio's album release event held this week. One is tempted to say the same about another event held last week in Chennai. And the difference is that it was a dance performance and the venue was Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore.

And what drew the unmanageable crowd was 'Konjum Salangai' a thematic programme of dance dedicated to well known lyricist, the late Kannadasan. The Bhavan was like a cinema hall showing a Rajinikant movie. People were all over the place. In the seats, in the aisles, on the floor - sitting, kneeling, standing and spilling into the lobby.

Staged by Uthsav Music, the show was conceived and directed by choreographer and TV producer, Radhika Shurajit.

Radhika who has been working in the celluloid medium for quite some time now has two passions - dance and films. Choreography and direction seem to be the vitamins of her life!

"I love cinema and I love dance and want to take art to people. That's my focus now", says Radhika who has directed classical dance sequences and visualised the scenes for songs too in some of the recent Tamil films.

'Konjum Salangai', staged on June 23, Kannadasan's birthday, featured the songs set to his lyrics which are evergreen film hits. Radhika visualised them for Bharatanatyam.

The presentation had a live orchestra and showcased about 30 dancers in groups, solo and duet sequences, The songs featured were 'Konjum salangai oli ketu...' from the film Konjum Salangai (music by S.M. Subbiah Naidu), 'Arumugam ana porul...' (film - Kandan Karunai, music by K.V. Mahadevan), 'Mannavan vandhanadi...' - a Sivaji hit (film - Thiruvarutchelvar, music - K.V. Mahadevan), a Kurathi song from 'Kandan Karunai', 'Kadal siragai...' (film - Paalum Pazhamum, music - Viswanathan-Ramamurthy), 'Maraindhirundhu parkum...' - starring Padmini (film - Thillana Mohanambal), 'Unnaithan naan ariven...' (film - Vaazhkai Padagu), 'Sivagami maganidam' (film - Patanathil Boodham), 'Kattodu kuzhalada...' - starring MGR (film - Periya idathu pen) and a thillana from the film ' Thillana Mohanambal'.

Film director Bharathiraja, lyricist Vairamuthu and music director M.S. Viswanathan, among others, were at the show.

Says Radhika, "Kannadasan is my all-time favourite and this show was a tribute to him. It was not a mere translation of the film-song in dance, but an adaptation of the song to the Bharatanatyam format. We added swaras and jathis too at appropriate places, without tampering with the original music." For example, 'Mannavan vandhanadi...' was designed like a varnam. 'Maraindhirundhu parkum...' which picturises Padmini talking to Sivaji, as she dances in the film, was performed as a group piece, with the four dancers addressing lord Muruga. Here, Radhika focussed only on the bhakthi element. 'Kadal siragai...' depicting a Virahotkantitha nayika was visualised like a padam. 'Unnaithan naan ariven...' a lighter piece was presented towards the end of the recital. Here, since the dancer was performing before a king at a court, Radhika used a 'Therasheela' (screen) entry for her.

Says Radhika,"I wanted to retain the charm of both the film medium and the dance form. The magic in films is very different from the magic on stage. We wanted to create a blend of both."

Why film music in Bharatanatyam?
Says Radhika, "You could call this a sugar-coated pill. I want to create rasikas for Bharatanatyam. I've been through times when you have to call up your relatives and friends and invite them to your recital. And even today, people complain of a thin audience for Bharatanatyam. I want to be a link between the celluloid medium and the classical medium. I have faced criticism from so many people for introducing film music in the traditional dance form. Well, I bend down to bring people up...to create a taste for Bharatanatyam among the masses."

She adds, "Classical music and dance were part of films in those years. But today, we can't force the classical arts in the films, where there is no relevance for them in the storyline. So, what do we do to attract film-goers too, to the classical arts? This is one of my attempts... When I first performed a MLV film hit, 'Andhi mayangudhadi...' in one my solo recitals years ago, I found that people loved it and that's when it all started."

In the recent years, Radhika has choreographed 'Celluloid Classics' an evening of multilingual film hits in dance for the students of Ramya Harishankar in Los Angeles, U.S.A,and an exclusive programme of Shivaji hits for dance-duo Lavanya and Mrinalini in Chennai.

The Sunday morning infotainment dance show, 'Thaka Dhimi Tha' directed by Radhika for Jaya T.V is a serial that's been running for almost five years now, with a steady viewership in India, Dubai and Australia too.

'Konjum Salangai' is to be staged again on July 27, 2005 on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebrations of Vani Mahal in T. Nagar, Chennai.

Radhika Shurajit runs the Thrayee School for Bharatanatyam in Chennai. She can be contacted at Ph: 24911544, E-mail radhikashurajit@yahoo.com