She shot to fame when she was just 14 in Nizhalgal, directed by Bharathiraja. Choosing to complete studies, Radica Giri returned to the silver screen in Prabhu-starrer Oruvar Vaazhum Aalayam, after her graduation. However, she chose to marry her childhood sweetheart and accompanied her husband to the US after marriage.
Now, Radica a successful performer and teacher, and mother of two, is braced for her dream project Chitrangada, a stage production of Rabindranath Tagore’s famous work that will be staged in August at The Music Academy. A trained bharathanatyam dancer under the vazhvoor style by KJ Sarasa, Radica has been a regular performer at the sabhas in Chennai and the US. Her dance school Anjali Natya in California has 60-65 students training under her.
Radica says that discovering the performing part came later in life, after she had her daughter in 2000. “I was working full-time as a financial analyst. I was feeling quite restless and decided to get back to dancing, and kept up with the craft by taking lessons from A Lakshman, whenever I made a trip to Chennai,” says Radica who was in the city recently. Radica says that performing at the Natyanjali in Chidambaram, in 2005, was the turning point. “I wanted to teach my daughter too and decided to start my own school the same year,” she adds.
Chancing upon Chitrangada a couple of years ago, Radica decided to perform a stage production of the work in Tamil.
“I had read the English translation of the work by none other than Tagore himself. I approached a friend to translate it in Tamil and brought in Rajkumar Bharathi to do the score. My abhinaya guru is choreographing my solo parts, while L Narendra, a disciple of the Dhananjayans is putting together the entire performance,” she adds. She will be accompanied by 12 students on the stage.
Calling the show her magnum opus, Radica says that the whole process has been incredible because it is a journey that started late.
“But, it has taken a great course. I often thought that maybe I shouldn’t have quit movies, but then this is perfect. I feel this is what I was meant to do,” she says.
For the last several years, Radica has been busy with the arangetrams of her students apart from performing in several cities across the country. “My in-laws are a very artistic family and it was my sister-in-law, who pulled me back to dance,” she adds. Radica notes that there is a big difference between performing in the US and home. “I perform there with live orchestra and fly in musicians from here. I do annual shows, productions and fund raisers. Here everything is taken care of, but in the US it is a rush at every stage. But, once you are on stage it is the same thing. Just that the whole process is easier here,” she says.