Kathak and Bollywood?

Find out the connection at Navras where the classical dance form will be fused with a medley of popular filmy songs as a preview of festival of India in South Africa 2011

Kathak and Bollywood?

Find out the connection at Navras where the classical dance form will be fused with a medley of popular filmy songs as a preview of festival of India in South Africa 2011u00a0

Well, you wouldn't exactly associate a Bollywood number like Masti Ki Pathshala from Rang De Basanti with Kathak. But if dancer and choreographer Kalpana Verma is to be believed, the song can be perfectly choreographed to the Bibhatsa Ras -- one of the nine rasas (sentiments or emotional states) of Kathak. Verma, a disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj, has fused Kathak with popular Bollywood numbers, which she and her team of dancers will present to the Capital's discerning audience as part of Navras -- a Kathak performance.

Verma has done a careful selection of popular numbers from Bollywood and set them to various rasas of Kathak. That, and the effort of a month and a half, is Navras. "We looked for songs that could bring out the essence of a particular rasa and chose numbers that suit the theme and the rasa," she says. And what is the reason behind putting Kathak and Bollywood together? "The classic and the popular have always run on separate
platforms. We are using Bollywood here as a medium of expression. The process is completely classical," assures Verma.

"The sequence moves from one rasa to another and the hour-long performance has been weaved like a ballet," says Rakesh Gupta, founder, Routes 2 Roots which is organising this preview show before the film exhibition-cum-live performances event titled Journey of Indian Cinema which will be held in South Africa, organised in association with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR).

There are a variety of songs which have been clubbed together and merged to form a story. So for Shringar (love) ras, the dancers will move their bodies to Mehndi hai sajnewali (from the film Zubeida), Piya bawari and Sajna hai mujhe from Saudagar. For Vir ras, the choreography has been set to JP Dutta's Border's background music.

Aradhana's Chanda Hai tu and Yashomati maiyya from Satyam Shivam Sundaram have set the tune for Karuna ras. Remember the catfight between Sunil Dutt, Kishore Kumar and Sairu Banu and Mehmood in the Padosan number Chatur Nar? That and Johnny Walker's quirky Tel malish will set the tone for Hasya ras. Jab bhi yaad karta hu from Guzaarish is setting up the mood for Adbhut ras while for Rudra, it will be the music that Karishma Kapoor sizzled in Dil To Pagal Hai. And then there is more. Check this out yourself, we suggest.

At: Azad Bhawan auditorium, IP estate
When: July 14
Timings: 7 pm onwards
For passes,call: 41646383