CHENNAI: Athinavaneetha, Abhinayaraja, Gokulabaala, Kotiprakasha, Viraganaraga Shree Rakshakka Maala — as different names of Lord Krishna are soulfully sung, actor Kamal Haasan gracefully moves his hands and body and expresses the longing and affection for the lord. The song Unne kaanadhu naan, from the movie Vishwaroopam thus becomes an ode to Lord Krishna. The same song made Pandit Birju Maharaj win the National Award for best choreography in 2012. Even though his compositions and choreographies spread over a large graph, the one in Vishwaroopam stays etched in people’s minds.
“When we think of Maharaj ji, I would like to think of his first performance that I saw on stage in August 2006. I remember Maharaj ji performing Uddhav Samvad. That imprint has not left me because when he was Krishna on stage, I felt like this was Krishna. In our country, we look for Krishna in all art. We paint and sculpt Krishna and Maharaj ji was someone who brought Krishna onto the stage each time when he was here. Such was his name and persona on stage,” shared dancer Sunil Sunkara before performing his tribute to the dancer at Smriti, a two-day event conducted to honour Maharaj ji on Sunday and Monday by Kathak Darpan Trust at Music Academy.
After more than a year of the dancer’s passing, his rasikas and students gathered at the auditorium to pay him tribute. Nitirooge Phoneprasert, Consul-General of Thailand, Chennai was the chief guest of the event which also witnessed the performances of members of Maharaj’s family and student circle.
Sunil said, “Whenever I had an opportunity to stand next to him before h e entered the dais, I noticed that he would take a sip of water and would close his eyes. This was the transformation from Birju Maharaj to Brij Shyam. It is very overwhelming to be here.”
Before her performance at the festival, Saswati Sen, a senior disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj, said, “As a dancer, musician, vocalist, teacher, poet and painter, Maharaj ji has given us so much. I doubt if so many people are gifted with so many artistic qualities like him. I am blessed to have been under his tutelage for 51 years. It gives me joy that I have seen and grown under him. I have studied how he brought about the art’s nuances and in-depth feeling.”
Apart from the dance performances of senior students of Maharaj, including five Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees, there were workshops by Saswati, book launches, and lecture demonstrations by Dr Puru Dadheech and Kanaka Shrinivasan. Deepak Maharaj, son of the dancer, performed for the first time in Chennai on the last day.