A glimpse of the choreographinization in the 1990's - Tu Shayar Hai (Saajan, 1991)

While flipping through the Indian movies channels on a lazy Friday afternoon, I stopped at one which was playing the 1991 blockbuster move "Sajaan" starring Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan & Sanjay Dutt, all looking ridiculously young, innocent but beautiful! I happened to stop right at time to watch the visualisation of the song "Tu Shayar Hai...Main teri shayari" picturised on Madhuri doing a stage performance at a show.

When you listen to the song alone at present time, you would not really imagine a dance number on it. But I was surprised at how it was managed to do so.

Barring the slightly atrocious costumes (and vital statistics) of the side dancers, the set and the overall choreographinization was quite impressive for a 1991 movie.

One of the key points that came to my notice was the fact that as compared to now, the movements were far more graceful, subtle and delicate. There were pauses and breaks when there was a need for it and there were the right movements at the other times (*1). I would say that the balance of the right pauses and resuming the same does matter a lot as if you watch a video with constant movement, it tends to be quite a sore eye. This particular piece clicked for me for this very reason. It was pleasing to watch. Not sure who is the choreographer for this piece, but from the dance style, it would probably be Saroj Khan.

Another aspect of the older choreographies that I particularly enjoy is indicative dancing which I noticed in this video too. My opinion - its enjoyable to see dance movements that indicate the message of the song. Certain words that are put in the form of dance.

So, here's what's clicked for me and what’s not, and my overall opinion about this choreographinization,

Costumes

Side dancers - Atrocious is an understatement (*2). But I should not complain because this has improved too well to the liking of many actors (some of them look and dance better than the leads!!!).

Lead dancer Madhuri Dixit - Three sets of costumes (*3). My favourite was the second one in blue. Because there were a lot of leg movements. The costumes for her were a smart blend of leggings and skirts (*4). I particularly liked the peacock earrings she wore with the last costume (*5).

Set

Pretty set, as you can never go wrong with white. The broken glass circle piece at the centre stage gave a nice touch (*6). Lighting was decent too.

Overall synchronization

Not so much with the side dancers but when you have such a beautiful and graceful dancer as a lead, you don’t really tend to look at anything else.

Reference Markeys

*1

Between 0:36 – 1:07 of the video link.

*2

*3

*4

*5

*6

Video Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPWmhnLeWeA

Taal - Ramta Jogi

So I continue to write about Taal, since this was one movie that I would say marked the beginning of stylised choreographinization. Ramta Jogi is my second favourite from this movie.

What Ramta Jogi exactly means, I am not too sure of, but I guess its something to do with being a jogi or a saint who is drunk and high on love. Main prem piyala pee aaya..main tere dil wich kee aaya...punjabi lyrics that when translated would mean that I have drunk from the cup of love...

Again, similar to Ishq Bina, one of the most striking feature of this choreographinization is the setting itself which this time is a combination of orange, red, yellow, brown, white and grey that is bought out in the form of the wooden flooring, the dim orange lighting, the yellow spotlights on the floor and fancy cieling lights in addition to the yellow string like decor, the orange walls and pillars and the huge poster of Anil Kapoor in black and red with grey clouds as background.

One thing that catches my interest is the optimum utilisation of space. If you notice, there is not a single moment when space is underutilised as dancers or other features are equally distributed. For example, even while the main dancer is dancing at centre stage where one can see the railing of the first floor from the same shot, its not empty, you can see dancers who are sitting on the railing and casually swinging their legs to the tune of the song in perfect sync.

I would say that this song might have been slightly difficult to choreographinize since Anil Kapoor who plays the main protagonist - dance director, is not much of a dancer and a song that is so rich in beats, it would have been a difficult task to fit him in. Inspite of that, he has fit in perfectly owing to a couple of factors. Firstly, his costume which has a lot of puffs around it especially the sleeves which are designed in the Arabian Nights style.

Due to the several layers of the outfit at the sleeves specially, each step that has been done by him seems to fit in with the strong beats as they have kind of boosted the energy that has been put in by the actor. For example, if you held a cloth in your hand and then swiftly moved your hand up and down, the movements would be more visible since its not only your arms that are moving but also the cloth that you are holding as opposed to your arm movements without any cloth. The same has worked for this choreographinization. Ofcourse, timely movements with the beats along with an amazing "I am the master of this game" attitude has made him look like a trained professional dancer..!

A lot of gymnastic and acrobatic steps have been used in this choreographinization with a bit of freestyle on punjabi beats which I would say has worked quite well with the song.

I particularly loved the coordination of movements with the beats. One particular example was Anil Kapoors entry where he walks down from a wooden staircase that is suspended on strings and while he is walking down (which is shot from the exteriors), it is perfectly coordianted with the beat and music of a string instrument.

The water sound effect also enhances the overall outcome of the dance and in fact there was a scene where an orange lighted water bowl is shown from where the sound effect is produced.

The use of spotlights on the main actors in the otherwise dark lighting have also been very attractive as it highlighted movements and even gelled very well with the overall set and created a mysterious feel.

Aishwaryas entry was interesting and especially the way she comes up from the staircase as opposed to Anil Kapoor whose entry was made as coming down a staircase.

I liked the idea of the long coat that hung loosely over her as there has been a lot of wind blowing effect used that obviously will create more of an effect if there are objects nearby that can produce the result of such an effect. In fact, her movements in front of the huge background poster with highlights on the clouds in it boosted the impact of the blowing wind effect.

The second part of the choreographinization was however less impressive. The set seemed over crowded thus reducing the appeal of the whole scene. In addition to that, the costumes were not exceptional either. Makes me wonder why they have to keep Aishwarya dressed in either blacks or whites. Black and white is normally well complemented with a colorful background, but with a setting that already has a lot of black and white, it would have been better if she was dressed in a brighter color like red which would even be in sync with the other costumes which were predominantly black, white and red.

Overall, this choreographinization was much more impressive in the first part and could have been even better if the second part was not conducted in a somewhat hasty manner. Excellent coordination and sync with the music and beats would be my opinion about the striking factor of this choreographinization.

Taal - Ishq Bina

Ishq Bina...the second musical dance piece that was offered to the audience in the movie can be rightly described as subtle dancing with a lot of power. The song itself had a lot of beats, a mix of qawali, classical flute, different beats of the tabla, the accordian and a variety of other beats and rhythm which makes the song a pleasure to hear.

The USP of this choreography done by Shiamak Davar is the setting and the color combinations that have been used. The setting comprises of beautiful black, cream and white patterns, be it the wood carvings or the checked black and white floors combined with the soothingly bright costumes that ranged from red, green, yellow, grey and orange that were complemented with traditional caps, making the whole setting quite appealing to the eye. According to me, if the ambience is created wisely, half the battle is won as it only enhances the choreography further.



Kudos to the troupe dancers who are the main stars of this particular choreography with occasional glimpses of Akshay Khanna and Aishwarya Rai. The troupe is absolutely perfect in terms of their timing, co-ordination, positions, beats and rhythm. Each one of them deserve full marks for their energy which makes such a subtle dance so powerful. The costume colors have been used creatively within the choreographinization, as at times the dancers perform in a scattered manner but during formations, positions are exchanged innovatively and you realise that they are in perfect color coordination with each other forming pairs or groups of the same colors.



Another point that can be noted in this choreography is that the setting has been made as natural as possible, nothing seems staged, for example, the friends at the sides watching the dances and giggling amongst themselves, young girls lighting the candles at the background, the boys singing in an impromptu manner with the musicians who provide the evidence of the music and the taals that have been accommodated in the song.



The choreography primarily comprises of traditional folk movements with a hint of Kathak during the instrumental phases which seems to be depicting the relationship between Radha-Krishna which is one of the most popular epitome used to represent love in Hinduism. Since, the lyrics of the revolve around the concept of love and its essence, these hand symbols complement perfectly. The sound of the ghungroos imbibed within the background music that is matched with perfectly timed hand and feet movements only increase the charm of the choreography.



On the whole, a fantastic choreographinization that blends perfectly with the natural setting and is an absolute pleasure to watch and listen to !

Choreographinization

Choreography is the art of composing dance and synchronization is the process of bringing the different elements of a choreography together in a way that it creates synergy. Although, these are two separate terms, its a personal view that any perfect dance involves a perfect combination and coordination between choreography and synchronization and ideally, these two would be inseparable and thus the subject of this blog i.e.,

Choreography + Synchronization = Choreographinization.

Bollywood by far would be the industry that utilises this art the most, the art which has undergone dramatic transition over the years owing to various influences. To those who are unaware, Bollywood is the informal name that is given to the Indian film industry. Songs and dances are an integral part of this industry. In fact, at times, a movie might earn huge profits and be a hit at the box office solely on the basis of its music, songs and dance irrespective of the story of the movie or even the overall quality.

The whole process really works a lot like any corporate organisation. From the initiation to the delivery of any product, a set of processes is involves i.e. planning, organising, budgeting, marketing, delivery and follow ups. With reference to choreographinization in Bollywood, the planning involves the placement of the songs, the situation in which it may have to be choreographed in, the designation of the actor/actress for the dance, location, set-up, etc and organising would ideally involve getting the resources together i.e. arranging the look of the choreographinization, alloting designers, arranging the location with the relevant authorities etc.

The style of dance has changed gradually over the years and so has the entire process that is normally involved. During the black and white era, the genre of dance was quite limited restricted to different forms of indian classical dance - the south indian dances allotted for the temple, religious and goody two shoes characters and north indian dances with specific reference to kathak was alloted to the "kothas" and mujras. In other cases, the dance is choreographized in a western style and at times cabaret which was quite popular during the 60's and 70's with special reference to Helen who was often called the cabaret queen and for her provocative dancing during that era.

There has been a range of choreographers with the most dominant ones today being,


Farah Khan- Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil to Pagal Hai, Virasat, Kuch Kuch Hota hai, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Bluffmaster, Paheli, Don, Kaal, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Zindagi Rocks, Krrish etc.


Saroj Khan - Darr, Baazigar, Mohra, Dilwale Dulhanidya Le Jayenge, Soldier, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Taal, Lagaan, Devdas, Don etc.


Vaibhavi Merchant - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Lagaan, Devdas, Dhoom, Rakht, Bunty aur Babli, Neal n' Nikki, Rang de Basanti, Krrish, Umrao Jaan, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom etc.

Shiamak Davar - Dil to Pagal Hai, Taal, Kisna, Bunty aur Babli, Dhoom 2 etc.



Ganesh Hedge - Hera Pheri, Pyaar tune Kya kiya, Lagaan, Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, Don, etc.



This blog is going to primarily focus on different bollywood choreographinization and somewhat offer a critique of the different elements involved i.e. style, costumes, performance and the likes.
Hope all you readers enjoy reading my views about the posted items and feel free to comment and share your opinions with me.