“I have built this school brick by brick; I have suffered the birth pangs of this institution” said Dr Kanak Rele in her concluding speech post the award show and the dance recital. “I have given Nalanda, my blood, my sweat, my passion and my time and feel very proud at the way it has shaped up. I am happiest when I am surrounded by dance and music because then I know that I am breathing” It was an emotional moment for Kanak Rele recently discharged from the hospital.  She said everyone at Nalanda looks forward to this special day.

Rele signed off her emotional speech stating that she had done her best for the institution and now rests it in the care of her daughter-in-law, Uma Rele, Principal Nalanda, and her granddaughter Vaidehi  who are torchbearers of the tradition. “I know Nalanda is in safe hands and they will expand my dream with better technology and greater passion”.

Maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain once said that his father, the genius Ustad Alla Rakha would forever remain his guru first and his parent later. Dr Uma Rele endorses the feeling, she says her mother-in-law, Dr Kanak Rele will first remain her guru and later, a family member. Uma Rele’s daughter Dr Vaidehi Rele Laal follows the tradition and even though she addresses Uma as mother, she never crosses the guru shishya laxmanrekha. Talking of tradition, a ritual I absolutely love is when a fully dressed shishya walks to the guru holding her ghunghroos in hands. The guru blesses the ghungroos. Then the dancer bends and touches her guru’s feet followed by a shashtang namashkar and only then appears on the stage for a performance.

I became aware of this tradition when young dancers rushed into the green room to seek Dr Uma Rele’s blessings and bestowed the same honour to all seniors present in the room. A touching moment.

The show begins with a short and enlightening message from Padmabhushan Dr Kanak Rele, Founder director Nalanda. She recaps the history of the mahavidyalay and also the Nartan awards – how the idea was conceived and blossomed.

The Nartan Puraskar awardees, mostly dancers, musicians, sometimes, performing actors from theatre and literature are seated in the front row and honoured with a shawl, a coconut and a certificate.

I am privileged to be amongst the five short-listed Nalanda- Kanak Nartan Puraskar this year and confess that even though I have attended innumerable award ceremonies across globe in my long career, the purity and the grace of Nalanda-Nartan Puraskaar will always remain special.

Every year, come January and Nalanda Dance Mahavidyalay hosts a sparkling night for art and artistes. On this special day, the dance school applauds their deserving students with a certificate and honours prominent artistes from different art forms.

It is a day when all the shishyas and all the gurus come together and the school premise is dressed up like a bride. From the time you enter the gate, there are young dancers wearing jasmine flowers welcoming you with a smile.

The special invitees collect in the adjoining room to the auditorium and are treated to tea and hot snacks. Every-one in the room is a prominent artist and delighted to connect with their colleagues. The excitement is contagious and all the juniors are touching the feet of the seniors.

In the auditorium, there are some sofas, some chairs and most of it is baithak seating. That is the Nalanda tradition.

Prinseps has divided the exhibition in specific sections, so while one section is devoted to her stint as fashion illustrator at Eve’s Weekly, sketching glamorous sarees and silhouettes that eventually became drapes for leading actresses, another part of the exhibition will showcase her sketches and oil/water paintings as part of the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG). A section is reserved for her as a costume designer as well. The section includes beautiful sketches created by her as well. The idea is to present an overview of her work as an art advertisement designer and a costume design work for regional theatre.

The spectacular final room is dedicated to videography. An immersive room showcasing content from various classic films that she worked on such as Amrapali, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Lagaan and the iconic Gandhi. Indrajit Chatterjee, Founder of Prinseps, says: ‘It has taken us close to two years to collate, document, and create the initial exhibit of the estate of Bhanu Athaiya, a permanent museum that will be a treat for art and fashion lovers!

There was a time in the 60s and the 70s when if you were not being dressed by Bhanu Athaiya you were not important in showbusiness.  In her career spanning six decades, Bhanu Athaiya (1929-2020) shaped Indian fashion and invented a new role, ‘the costume designer’ as yet unknown to mainstream movies. The Prinseps exhibition aptly titled “Legacy of Bhanu Athaiya” examines not just her costumes – but also her formative years in Kolhapur, her life as a student and artist at the JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, her time at Eve’s Weekly as a fashion illustrator and her contributions to Indian theatre and cinema.

With around fifty exhibits of works by Bhanu, (along with a few by her family members or colleagues), The motive behind Prinseps Exhibition: Legacy of Bhanu Athaiya, is to educate the discerning art lover of her legacy and therefore, research driven institution to explore and celebrate every aspect of her inspiring career as an artist, illustrator, film and theatre costume designer, art advertisement conceptualist and India’s first ever Oscar winner.

The exhibition will showcase the treasure trove of Athaiya’s personal heirloom and textile pieces. The beautiful, handwoven sarees with real gold zari, passed down to Bhanu from her mother and grandmother. Her family is decendents of the Rajopadhayas (Royal Priests) in Kolhapur, Bhanu Athaiya was exposed to exquisite taste early in life and made it a part of her organic journey, some of it documented and photographed by the Lakshmi Vilas Palace and Museum, Vadodara. 

If a good idea comes to you make sure to jot it down, Naseerudin Shah always told his actors because if you have jotted it down there is a possibility that you will find time to elaborate on it and when you do that, opportunity will come knocking on your door. I remembered that and when a good idea came to me, I jotted it down and when time permitted, I elaborated on it as a screenplay. Opportunity knocked on my door in the form of Pritesh Soda, a leading producer and theatre personality, desperately looking for a story to immediately launch a theatre production.

Writer Hiten Anandpara transformed the original screenplay to suit the  Gujarati audienced and soon the casting was confirmed as well. Come September and we were ready to premier our play and that’s when the covid happened. The theatres opened, shut, opened to half capacity and shut again. The yo yo was exasperating and we decided to wait till all was well. 

Two years later, we are ready to premiere our play in Baroda, so if you live in Baroda or around the place, book your tickets for Love You Daddy a family story to be watched with the family.

Who would have imagined that pages from a book Letters to Self could transform into expressions in a dance ballet aptly titled Sva-Abhivyakti? Who would have imagined that classical dancers would interpret our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’sreflection of words, verb, garbo, Scene, celebration, Kargil, love, Narmada, midnight, pain and Vande Mataram via Mohini Attam, Kathak, Oddisi and Bharat Natyam dance form?

In the book he requests his readers not to judge him by his position and post. We have not and that is why we take the liberty to interpret his expression via classical dance form because this is the true celebration of his words and his feelings.

To see all the musicians and the dancers come together and perform in harmony in the spotlight was a magical experience and this can only happen in Nalanda.

Concluded