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Marriage of traditional arts and cinema

Staff Reporter

Bharathanatyam dancer releases CD `Bollywood Ballet'

PAYING TRIBUTE TO CINEMA: Bharathanatyam dancer Raghunath Manet performs at the Alliance Francaise in Puducherry on Tuesday. — Photo: T. Singaravelou

PUDUCHERRY: The term `Bollywood Ballet' hints at something different, and that's what Bharathanatyam dancer and veena player Raghunath Manet aimed at while making this CD, which is a collection of film music from all ages with a different feel.

The French Consul General in Puducherry, Joelle Rayet, released the CD at a simple function at the Alliance Francaise on Tuesday.

In the CD, produced by Pondicherry Artists, the artist has freshly choreographed songs such as `Konjum salangai... ', `Maraindhirundhu paarkum... ', `Kannum kannum kalandhu... ' and also new songs such as `Thoodhu varuma... ' and `Dailamo... '.

"From the beginning cinema in India has co-existed with dance and music. The traditional art forms survived various onslaughts thanks to cinema, and so this is my tribute to cinema. Though I have used only Tamil songs, I call it Bollywood Ballet because at the international level Bollywood represents the face of Indian cinema," explained Mr. Raghunath.

He said that he found it interesting to identify the common points between the traditional art form of Bharathanatayam and cinema.

The CD contains 11 items, including a `gaana' and a `thillana'.

On why he chose to mix the two, he said that he believed in giving fresh interpretations to traditions.

"If artists just blindly follow traditions without questioning or reinterpreting them, traditions will slowly die out. When you bring in new things, traditions get a fresh lease of life."

Mr. Raghunath started dancing from his childhood.

"My sister used to learn dance, but my parents forbade me from learning dance since I was a boy. They taught me to play the veena, violin and trained me to sing, but I have always been attracted to dance," said the artist, who has released more than 15 CDs.

In `Bollywood Ballet', he has performed with artists including Mohan Vaidya, Gopakumar and Murugan.

This Chevalier Award winner from the French Government learnt his art from M.S. Nathan, Ram Gopal, and his grandfather, Gnanamani Pillai.

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