45TH IFFI celebrates dance in Indian cinema

The film won the National Award for best choreography for the lively depiction of a hill song against a mountain backdrop.

Starting from the classics like Alibaba and Kalpana, the special section presents films which brought both Indian classical dance and western dance to the audiences.

Choreographers like Sadhona Bose and Uday Shankar; Indian classical dance supremos Gopi Krishna and Birju Maharaj; modern-day artists like Shiamak Davar and Vaibhavi Merchant were all part of this exclusive section.

This section of 45th IFFI attempts to highlight different dance traditions and styles ranging from the classical forms like Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi (Thillaanaa Mohanambal, Hamsa Geete, Sagar Sangamam, Sringaram), Kathakali (Vanaprastham), and Kathak (Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Umrao Jaan, "Kahe Ched Mohe" from Devdas) to contemporary hybrid dance sequences influenced by modern western dance forms like jazz, ballet, Hawaiian dance, and acrobatic forms (Alibaba, Albela, Dil To Pagal Hai, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) among others.

The section also pays tribute to dancers of Indian cinemas, such as, Sadhana Bose, Uday Shankar, Padmini, Sandhya, Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini, Shobhana, Madhuri Dixit, Sudha Chandran and Kamal Haasan among others.

It also included mainstream film like Dhoom 3 which is not a dance film in the conventional sense, but that demonstrates the central place of dance in Indian cinemas.