A tribute to Indian cinema through classical dance and navarasas

Sanjay Shantaram, classical dancer and actor, is known for his interesting productions onstage. This month end, he will present Nakshatra — a tribute to Indian cinema through classical dance in which he pays obeissance to the dancing divas of Bollywood. “Everyone thinks film dancing is easy. But no one realizes that there is a lot of effort that has been put in and most of our stars are trained classical dancers and have brought in the charm and grace through their years of practice,” he says.
“I’ve been an actor myself and I wanted to convey the idea of cinematic dancing being beyond just the common stereotypes,” says Sanjay, who will have a team of nearly 50 dancers perform at the event.
“We have selected actresses who are also trained classical dancers and have inspired and charmed us over the years. It begins with Vyjayanthimala — someone who has been my biggest source of inspiration. We then come all the way down to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is another fine trained dancer,” reveals Sanjay.
In fact, this performance also has an interesting theme. “We have picked nine songs of nine actresses and through these nine songs, we will showcase the nine emotions, or navarasas, through classical dance,” says Sanjay, adding that this event is open for everyone on January 30 at ADA Rangamandira. With the performance, he hopes to encourage people to look at classical and film dancing in a different way.