Birju Maharaj has directed and composed music and sung playback for two classical dance sequences in the film, 'The Chess Players' directed by Satyajit Ray.

'Tandava', the classical dance, takes its name from Tandu, the celestial attendant of Shiva who instructed sage Baratha in the use of the Angaharas and Karanas, the plastic modes of the Tandava, at Shiva's behest.
('Tandava – the Classical Dance Form,' Dance Dialects of India by Ragini Devi, p29).

According to one view cited by Sri Ramadesikan, nritta was given by Shiva, natya by Brahma and nritya by Bharata. ("Karana-s in dance sculptures" by A Seshan, Nartanam, Vol III, #3, p 12, July – Sept 2003).

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