Dancing to success

Dance, easily one of the most beautiful and visual forms of expression, has its own devotees. Men and women who spend a lifetime following, even worshipping, it. Kala, or "Kala Master" as she is popularly known in southern India, is one such devotee.

Born into a family committed to dance and music, Kala began learning the classical Bharatnatyam dance when she was only five years old. She spent hours training and practising but insists that she did not mind missing out on an ordinary childhood. "I was totally into dance, dance, dance, only," she says, underlining her involvement.

Today a well-known film choreographer with a list of superhit films to her credit, Kala also teaches dance at her reputed schools in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She has married and moved recently to Dubai. And with her comes the first overseas branch of Kala's Kalalaya, her institute.

Kala inaugurates her dance school in Karama, Dubai, this evening. It is a school with a difference, she stresses. "I also teach film dance along with classical Indian dance. Very few schools do that." The school will have Kala as teacher, along with three other teachers, all her former students. They will teach Indian classical dance, Indian folk dance, Western dance and, of course, popular film numbers.

She plans to hold regular workshops every two or three months with visiting dancers and hopes to include especially talented students in her stage performances abroad. The school will also offer special music classes in instruments such as the organ, guitar and veena.

Kala herself has trained in the veena along with the classical Indian dance forms of Kathak and Bharatnatyam. She has also picked up a good bit of Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, ballet and modern Western dance. Her knowledge, training and skill come in very useful when choreographing films because most film songs demand a fusion of styles.

Kala's first film assignment, she remembers, was as assistant choreographer to her brother-in-law Raghu Ram, well-known dance master. Subsequently, he suggested her name to director K. Balachander when he didn't have the dates for a shooting. So Kala choreographed her first film when she was only 15. Punnagai Mannan starred Kamalhaasan and Revathi, both megastars.

But she was not afraid of choreographing for them, she says, because she had grown up with dance and her "family is very big" . Plus she is "totally a brave girl".

Kala has since choreographed more than 550 films in various Indian languages (predominantly South Indian) as well as stray films in English, Italian and Japanese (one about a Japanese visiting India and learning Indian dance).

She has worked with directors as well-known as K. Balachander, Mani Rathnam, K.S. Ravikumar, P. Vasu, Priyadarshan, Vasanth and others. Her best-known films include Roja, Puthu Puthu Arthangal, Vaname Yellai, Virasat, Azhagan, Megam, Niram, Ustaad, Pranaya Varangal, etc.

Kala has also presented numerous classical dance concerts on stage and has choreographed over 200 stage shows in many countries, including the U.S., UK, Germany, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Australia, Mauritius and, of course, the UAE.

These shows have starred Mohan Lal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Hariharan, Khushboo, Meena, Roja, Simran, Manju Warrier, Shobana, Manisha Koirala and more. She also choreographed the Miss World 1996 beauty pageant held in Bangalore, southern India, as well as events such as the Filmfare Awards.

There is a wealth of difference between choreographing films and stage shows, she agrees. "In a film there can be breaks between movements. On stage, you must be prepared to dance non-stop for hours. Shooting for a film is very easy, performing on stage is very difficult and even includes changing costumes in seconds. But the satisfaction is more on stage. You can get an immediate audience reaction and appreciation. In case of a film, you have to wait for it to release and then get a reaction."

The reaction has usually been very positive. Kala has received several awards in recognition of her talent. These include the Kalaimamani award, Cinema Express award, Filmfare award, Coca-Cola award, state award and special awards from megastar-organiser Amitabh Bachchan (for the Miss World show) and the late Tamil Nadu chief minister M.G. Ramachandran.

"Behind my success lie talent, sincerity, discipline, background and luck," she says, defining a good dancer as someone who can change styles and pick up movements with grace. "A good choreography must include good music, lyrics, set, costume and movement," she adds, all elements she seeks to blend in her choreography.

Successful by her own definition as well as the world's, Kala plans to continue dancing and teaching dance. Future projects include a dance school in the United States. A school which, like this one in Dubai, will bring to students the glamour of Indian film dance.