Monday, May 14, 2012

Minai identifies Malavika from 'Ananda Bhairavi'

I have been learning about Indian films , dances and songs from the posts of Minai like Malavika's Dances and the film Ananda Bhairavi (1983, Telugu/Kannada) and Richard's Sai-Subbulaxmi. After an erudite discussion and links to several nice dances in Ananda Bhairavi, Minai wondered about the identity and background of Malavika who did some wonderful Kuhipudi dances in he film. I took interest since Kuchipudi is close to my father's village and I am familiar with the place where the film was made. We wondered why she sort of vanished from the scene after a stellar performance. It turned out that Malavika is a kathak dancer Malavika Sarkar from the Lucknow Gharana who specially trained in Kuchipudi dances for the film after the director Jandhyala saw a TV performance by her. Minai compltes the identification in her latest post Visual Proof of Malavika Sarkar - Kathak Dancerand Ananda Bhairavi Star! . It is wonderful to read Minai's carefully researched posts and links to wonderful dances which make some of the classical dances palatable to even somebody like me who was turned off early by much of the gymnastics in those dances.

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