Favourite Kathak Performances

[los angeles]

Favourite Kathak Performances (Movies/Stage Shows/TV/Anywhere)

I trained in Kathak as a little girl in Los Angeles and it was my only formal dance training ever. (I think it was the Lucknow influence on my mom, she enrolled my sister and I in Kathak classes when we were in school.)
And I'm now working on a bit of fusion choreography combining Kathak with modern movement.

Just wanted to make a thread for those of us who love this art form. Do you have any favourite film performances featuring Kathak-inspired dance? Or BW stage shows where it's been presented? Please feel free to post any links

It's prominent in movies like Pakeezah, Umrao Jaan and many others.

(Please excuse the technicolor-pink on Meena's costume below, it's a bit bright )

[phul]

Crazy, I was on the verge of starting a thread like this myself!

I love the kathak in SLB's Devdas and Umrao Jaan, to name a couple obvious ones.

But this is my favorite performance, bar none: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kIey2rq0kc

[Usha]

This comes to mind 

Madhuris performance dance in Dil To Pagal Hai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9FqG3c_sIE

[Remini]

But this is my favorite performance, bar none: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kIey2rq0kc

This is beautiful! I presume the movie has more dances like this one?

[Aishwarya4eva]

This isn't really Kathak, it's Odissi, but since Devdas and Umrao Jaan it's the most beautiful traditional dancing I've seen in Bollywood...and there's a man involved who's also VERY talented. Seriously, he blew my mind. I was amazed for months.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8L_kTOCQOE

[tabula rasa]

The costume is for Odissi, but the dancing is Bharathanatyam. The male is Vineeth, dancer Shobana's nephew. They come from an illustrious dancing family - Shobana herself is Padmini's niece.

Odissi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsopAXJATUo&feature=related

Manjari Chaturvedi, kathak exponent, well known for fusing traditional kathak with the sufi traditions, coming up with 'Sufi Kathak'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cI_X42ZzmI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aclx1QevZic&feature=related

[leaf]

The costume is for Odissi, but the dancing is Bharathanatyam. The male is Vineeth, dancer Shobana's nephew. They come from an illustrious dancing family - Shobana herself is Padmini's niece.

Vineeth is Padmini's nephew through her husband. Shobana is, I believe, Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini's brother's daughter. Minai has a collection of Vineeth's classical performances in films on her blog.

[Aishwarya4eva]

Thanks tabula_rasa and leaf...I knew he was a south Indian actor because immediately after I saw that astounding performance I looked him up. He's really very good. And I looked up the costumes, too, and concluded they were Odissi, but I honestly can't tell the difference. Thanks for clearing that up.

[phul]

This is beautiful! I presume the movie has more dances like this one?

Yes, the movie is a vehicle for the dances more than anything.  I think this one is the best of the bunch.

[phul]

This isn't really Kathak, it's Odissi, but since Devdas and Umrao Jaan it's the most beautiful traditional dancing I've seen in Bollywood...and there's a man involved who's also VERY talented. Seriously, he blew my mind. I was amazed for months.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8L_kTOCQOE

Thanks for sharing this, aish.  I think it's a new favorite of mine.  ^^

[Usha]

Don`t know what style this is, but looks good 

Cham Cham Baje Re Payaliya     ( Shammi and Leena )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHA_UOzqiiY&feature=related

[Gaja Gamini]

I am no expert, but whenever I hear Bollywood and kathak mentioned in the same sentence, it´s always Kahe Chhed Mohe that comes to mind. The most glorious moment of Madhuri Dixit´s cinematic dancing.

[phul]

Don`t know what style this is, but looks good 

Cham Cham Baje Re Payaliya     ( Shammi and Leena )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHA_UOzqiiY&feature=related

Wow, I think Shammi's mudras were better than any of the dancers'!  XD

[Usha]

Hema Malini performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAgW19MAsLI&playnext=1&list=PL2A514B41CA598451

[*kat]

Don`t know what style this is, but looks good 

Cham Cham Baje Re Payaliya     ( Shammi and Leena )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHA_UOzqiiY&feature=related

Nice song.  Dance-wise, the first part isn't really classical at all, though the theme of Krishna breaking radha's pot is used a lot in classical work.  Around the 2.40 minute mark looks like they have a go at Odissi, though very filmi-fied!  3.57 they go for a Kathak costume, and some inspired movements, but it's unrefined, and too much hip-shaking to be Kathak! 

My favourite 'Kathak' items are:
Madhuri's Kahe Chhed Mohe, because I love her and she's such a beautful mover.
Rekha's In Aankhon ki masti - because it's choreographed by Kumudini Lakhia who I respect hugely (she's a living legend, and I've been lucky enough to be in a workshop with her).  She used Rekha really well, and kept the Kathak simple.  With the best will in the world you can't teach someone to be a Kathak dancer for one song, so Kumiben used simple, graceful movements with lots of space for Rekha's expression to shine through. 

As I go on, I get so much more judgemental of 'Kathak' inspired work in films.  I do like the fun and enjoyment of the mujra style numbers, and always dance along.  However the danger is that increasingly this is what a lot of people think Kathak is, and that it's easy!  There is so much more to it than the movements which Bollywood choreographers skim off, amplify and combine into a song.  Dance culture has changed, and people are going for quick fixes right now... will they join a Kathak class, or will they join a Bollywood class where the point isn't to focus on the detail of movement, but to learn a quick routine to a new song every so often?  There's a place for both and I do both, but I don't want one to eclipse the other!!

[Brindavani]

I hear you!  classical requires so much dedication and I think eventually, it looks more beautiful than the fast paced filmi numbers.  I too enjoy both but if I had to choose one, I think I would always go for classical.

[manono]

Roshan Kumari dances Kathak, right? This is my favorite, from the great Satyajit Ray film, Jalsaghar (The Music Room):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWXoX-gSiCo

[*kat]

Thanks for that Manono, hadn't seen that one before!

Just looked up Roshan Kumari as I didn't know about her (am v clueless about Jaipur gharana), some info and another video excerpt here:
http://roughinhere.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/finally-a-little-more-info-about-roshan-kumari/

Other videos:

Has this one been posted from  The Chess Players?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq-JJhUqPPg
A young Saswati Sen, well known as senior disciple and right hand of Birju Maharaj ji

Another interesting clip from The Courtesans of Bombay (docu-drama, haven't seen the whole thing).  The sound and video aren't that well synched, so there is a little delay between what is heard and what is seen!  Not at all refined, but shows a clear relationship between classical Kathak and  what courtesans/prostitutes were dancing in the 1980s. Some interesting comments by the poster also along this line under the video. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zp4leuv-h8&feature=channel_video_title