Celebrating the legacy of Pt Durga Lal & Raindrops Festival

- Vijay Shanker
e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com

August 7, 2025

CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF PT DURGA LAL BY THREE GENERATIONS
Ninad Centre of Performing Arts with the support of Maya Somaiya School of Music and Performing Arts, organised "Tasmay Shree Guruve Namah"- honouring and celebrating the legacy of Pt Durga Lal by three generations of disciples, featuring his ardent disciple, eminent dancer Uma Dogra, Dr Tina Tambe and the Ninad group. The programme was held at the mini P.L. Deshpande auditorium in Dadar, Mumbai, on 13th July on the occasion of Guru Purnima, as part of the Ninad concert series.

Tina Tambe

Uma Dogra

The evening commenced with the presentation of the beautiful 45 minutes film 'Nirvana Through Dance' that captures the complete life spectrum, of one of the country's best male Kathak dancers of the Jaipur Gharana, Pt Durga Lal, who was acclaimed for his immaculate mastery of rhythmic footwork and aesthetic presentation, hence was hailed for his vivacious quality and dexterity that was unparalleled. But the saddest part was his premature exit from this physical world at the age of 43 after a stage performance, that shocked the entire dance fraternity. Pt Durga Lal was initiated to dance at a tender age by his elder brother, Pt Devi Lal, who was like a father figure and mentor too. The film directed by Indrayanee Mukherjee, a brilliant disciple of Guru Uma Dogra, covers his several performances in India and abroad and his humble beginnings, living in a tiny flat, his simplistic nature of being sincere and honest to the extent that he was denied a flat by the Government, as he revealed that he owned a flat, as narrated by veteran critic Leela Venkataraman in the film.

The performance commenced with Guru Vandana in raag Todi by three generations, Guru Uma Dogra, Dr Tina Tambe and her five disciples of the Ninad group - Aastha Bhatia, Gayatri Tambe, Neha Gadgil, Ruchi Gadgil and Sara Natu. This was followed with Teentaal vilambit and later in drut laya by Dr Tina Tambe and her disciples. Tina, one of the senior most disciples of Uma Dogra, heads the Ninad Centre of Performing Arts, has already organised several programmes, promoting arts and artistes. Tina made a great start to her performance with fine control over technique and complex rhythmic patterns.

Uma Dogra, Tina Tambe & disciples

Uma Dogra interpreted the popular ashtapadi "Sakhi he keshi" establishing the intimate relationship between Radha and Krishna. Before the performance, on a lighter note, Uma said, "People expect me to show romance at the age of 69 too." Ashtapadis of Jayadeva are normally not depicted in the Kathak style, hence it was a pleasant surprise to watch Uma interpreting the subtle nuances of love glances with different bodily movements.

RAINDROPS FESTIVAL CELEBRATES VEERANGANA - WOMEN POWER
Sam Ved Society for Performing Arts organised the 35th Raindrops Festival celebrating women power - Veerangana, featuring young and talented women dancers for two days, Friday 18th July and Saturday 19th July at the mini P.L. Deshpande auditorium in Mumbai. This festival is organised every year during the rainy season hence known as the Raindrops Festival. Young dancers are quite keen to perform in this festival which is organised by Kathak Guru Uma Dogra. Four distinct classical dance styles of India were presented, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak and Odissi and each dancer was given time slot for about half an hour, which was sufficient to judge the calibre of the performer. Ultimately it is the quality of the performance that matters the most. The dancers featured in the festival were Krishnabhadra Namboothiri and Medha Hari for Bharatanatyam, Amartya Chatterjee, Anukriti Vishwakarma, Shika Sharma and Tarini Tripathi for Kathak, Kalamandalam Pooja for Kuchipudi and Shayomita Dasgupta for Odissi. It was amazing to watch all of them dancing so well.

Uma Dogra says, "Raindrops is a very popular festival especially for young dancers, hence the excitement is tremendous. There are so many applications, so it becomes difficult to select but we try to accommodate more entries and the dancers are given a remuneration. Thirty five years is a long time. I feel I am a pioneer in encouraging young talent as there are not many platforms for young dancers and they are so keen to perform. It's our duty to encourage and guide youngsters so that they could become bright stars promoting and propagating Indian classical dances on the international platform. I am so delighted to see that some of them are really brilliant and their spirit and devotion is amazing".

The festival commenced with a bright Kathak performance by Amartya Chatterjee, with salutations to the goddess "Bhavani Dayani" followed with the execution of Taal Dhamar in 14 beats which was performed with precision. Amartya danced with professional ease and effortless quality revealing her layakari and teyyari. She concluded her brief performance with an expressional number "Root gaye savariya" as she suffers from separation from her beloved. Amartya was supported by soulful singing by Manoj Desai, tabla by Vivek Mishra and Alka Gujar on sitar.

Amartya Chatterjee

Shayomita Dasgupta

Odissi by Shayomita Dasgupta incorporated the empowerment of the feminine spirit and power, as she dwells in sound, stillness and in silence too. The dancer used the metaphor of the red cloth to symbolise the sindhur and the fire which forms the witness to marriage and also signifies the fire which is existing in every woman which erupts whenever necessary to fight against injustice and atrocities. This number was inclusive of typical characteristic movements of Odissi with tribangis and chauka, performed with elegance and dexterity. Shayomita concluded with Vande Mataram paying homage to our Motherland.

Krishnabhadra Namboothiri is the disciple of acharya Gayatri Subramaniam of Guru G.V. Ramani Natya Kala Foundation, Navi Mumbai. She is a fine performer with control of technique, clarity of movements and natural command over expressions. Krishnabhadra commenced her performance with Gopalakrishna Bharati's Pancharatna Kriti, set in the Mallari format by Sikkil Gurucharan. The piece-de-resistance of the evening was the Ninda Stuti, in which Kartikeya's first wife Devasena, complains to him "Hey Shadvadana! Shadaripu bhanjana. Shashtamukham mamah klesha karnam (Hey Karthikeya! You are one who destroys the six evils - Kama, Krodha, Madah, Lobha, Moha and Irshya. The sixth face of yours is the cause of my sorrows.) It was interesting to watch as to how Vasakasajja turns to Khandita as she realises about the other woman in the life of Kartikeya. The varied sancharis pertaining to the characterisation of both Devasena and Kartikeya was interpreted with subtle glances and expressions, that left a lasting impression. This number was written by Dr Himanshu Srivastava, music composition by Karthik Hebbar and choreography by Gayatri Subrahmaniam, vocal by Keertana Krishnamurthy, rhythmic pattern by Dr GV Guru Bharadwaj, Prajesh Nair on mridangam and violin by the veteran Mangala Vishwanathan. Krishnabhadra concluded her performance with Meera Bhajan, "Jo tum todo piya".

Krishnabhadra Namboothiri

Shika Sharma

The first day concluded with the sparkling Kathak performance by Shika Sharma. After invocations to Lord Krishna, "Krishnaya Tubhyam Namah", Shika proceeded to the precise execution of teen taal with varied rhythmic patterns with technical ease. Shika concluded her performance with a beautiful composition of poet Amir Khusro that depicts the plight of the young bride, as she is reluctant to leave her family, friends and the toys she used to play with but leaves anyway as she is helpless. This emotional scene was depicted well by the talented dancer.

The second and final day commenced with the striking Kathak recital by Anukriti Vishwakarma. Anukriti danced with confidence and professional ease, revealing her command over footwork and its rhythmic complexity. Anukriti is the disciple of the veteran Guru Jaikishan Maharaj.

Anukriti Vishwakarma

Kalamandalam Pooja

The only Kuchipudi performance of the festival was rendered by Kalamandalam Pooja particularly impressive for her command over the technique, elegance and the poise that she maintained in the execution. She commenced with the popular number "Marakata" interspersed with the Tarangam. Following the Vempati Bani, this is a number in which the heroine remembers her joyous moments with Krishna and misses his presence. Pooja impressed the audience with the perfect execution of rhythmic patterns on the rim of the brass plate. She concluded her performance with the ashtapadi "Sanchara dadara" that establishes the interrelationship between Radha and Krishna.

Medha Hari is the disciple of veteran mentors like Guru Anita Guha and Priyadarsini Govind, hence her performance was particularly noteworthy for the striking and distinct movements. Medha interpreted a beautiful Muthuswamy Dikshitar composition that depicts the water bodies and the significance of the three rivers, Ganga, Jamuna and Kaveri, while paying homage to the presiding deity in the form of the Shiva lingam. Another interesting number Medha presented was the item in which the pranks of Ganapati and Kartikeya was portrayed as they fight with each other over trivial matters and how Parvati intervenes and pacifies them.

Medha Hari

Tarini Tripathi

The last performer of the evening was Tarini Tripathi, daughter of Gauri Sharma Tripathi and granddaughter of veteran Kathak Guru Padma Sharma. Tarini executed Taal Ashta Mangal interspersed with 'kavit' that created a fine impression. Tarini was the most vivacious dancer of the festival, dancing with joie-de-vivre along with Guru Kalinath Mishra on tabla, Vaibhav Mankad on vocal and Sangeet Mishra on sarangi.

Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor.