Bollywood and its many dances!
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Bollywood and its many dances!

The onset of colour Indian films blessed us all with dancers like Helen and Mahipal

Bollywood and its many dances!

New Delhi: It wasn’t until I started watching cinema other than Bollywood that I realised that those synchronised dance numbers with the hero and heroine in the centre and an army of dancers in the background were only peculiar to our very own Bollywood. These dance numbers and the musical albums in Bollywood movies is what makes it so special.

Also, India is a land of very rich and diverse culture and that serves as a platter for the Indian Cinema to draw so many art forms from. Breaking a leg to a typical bollywood number has to be a part of every millennial and zoomer’s childhood memories. However, it all started when the movies were still black and white and Indian cinema took from our country’s cultural heritage and incorporated Indian classical and folk dance and music in the movies.

Classical dance forms like Kathak and Bharatnatyam constituted the dance numbers in the movies. Taking inspiration from the Indian folk dances from different parts of the country, more people became part of these dances on the screen. However, the onset of colour Indian films blessed us all with dancers like Helen and Mahipal who changed the course of dance in Indian cinema. Also, now Indian movies started to take inspiration from the west and cabaret became quite popular. Don’t we all just love Helen’s overdramatic and graceful moves in Piya tu ab to aaja! She even pulled off a costume change like an absolute queen and we all stan!

From there began the era of the bollywood dance numbers as we know them today. Being a 00s kid, I was blessed to witness the release of iconic bollywood songs like ek pal ka jeena, aankhein khuli ho, sharara, mar dala, dola re dola, nimbuda and much more. Although I didn’t understand most of them, I remember dancing my heart out to these numbers. What is so special about these bollywood numbers is the range of the dance forms. On one hand, we have Hrithik Roshan moving his body like he has no bones to those hip hop beats and then we have Maduri Dixit stealing our hearts while doing Kathak in those oh! so beautiful costumes.

Bollywood now enjoys a global appeal and has its own unique way of dance. Thanks to the Indian diaspora, people all around the world now groove to these bollywood beats although they don’t understand a word and that is the beauty of it all!

This International Dance Day, channelise your inner bollywood star and dance to Govinda and Karishma’s bops like crazy!