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PIX: When Deepika, Aishwarya, Rekha celebrated Navratri
In Bollywood’s eternally festive frame of mind, celebrations are abundant and extravagant. And whether it’s Holi, Lohri, Diwali or Eid any excuse to go dancing is more than welcome.
While India gears up to worship the Hindu goddess Durga as well as hit the dance floor with their best dandiya and garba moves on Navratri, starting October 5, we look at the colourful portrayal of these nine-nights long festival on Bollywood screen.
Ram Leela
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming magnum opus, Ram Leela is a star-crossed romance, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, based in Gujarat.
And in its most recently released song, Nagada sang dhol, Deepika leaves a rich impression performing a vibrant garba in her flaming red ghagra.
Kai Po Che
Abhishek Kapoor’s adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s novel, The Three Mistakes of My Life is about the equation between three friends against the backdrop of significant events in Gujarat.
One of its most enchantingly shot sequences features a dandiya dance between Raj Kumar Yadav and Amrita Puri against Suneeta Rao’s popular pop single, Pari hoon main.
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Bhansali explored the culture and colours of Gujarat to memorable effect in the romantic triangle, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
There’s much jazz and tradition in Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai’s feverish jig to the furiously festal beats of Dholi taro.
Lagaan
A R Rahman embellished Ashutosh Gowariker’s Oscar-nominated Lagaan with some of his most rousing creations.
But there’s something distinctly sublime about the playful ambiance he lends to Aamir Khan and Gracy Singh’s dandiya raas in Radha kaise na jale.
Bride and Prejudice
Dubbed in Hindi as Balle Balle from Amritsar to LA, Gurinder Chadha’s reworking of Jane Austen’s beloved book packs in every culture cliché on a platter.
And that explains Ash prancing to dandiya beats of Dola dola with her Kiwi co-star Martin Henderson.
Aap Mujhe Ache Lagne Lage
Vikram Bhatt’s Aap Mujhe Ache Lagne Lage is about a boy and girl, who fall in love during the course of Navratri celebrations.
Given the premise, Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel get loads of dandiya time in this otherwise bland love story
Dil Hi Dil Mein
Director Kadhir’s Kadhalar Dinam met with such a good response in Tamil he decided to release its dubbed version as Dil Hi Dil Mein.
While the romance didn’t repeat history, Sonali Bendre and Kunal’s merry dandiya to A R Rahman’s tune is synonymous with Navratri.
Pratikaar
Dubbed as one of the most successful jodis of the 1980s, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit light up the screen with their perfectly matched steps in Pratikaar’s Chitthi mujhe likhna.
The song also features former Pakistani cricketer-turned-actor Mohsin Khan and model-turned-actress Sonu Walia.
Chand Ka Tukda
Clad in a gold from head to toe Sridevi unleashes glitzy glamour beating dandiya sticks harmoniously to the traditional ditty, Aaj Radha ko sham yaad aa gaya.
Love Love Love
Following the resounding success of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla signed up for multiple films together.
One of them is Love Love Love, standard romantic tripe redeemed to some extent by its young actors’ ebullient disco dandiya.
Mirch Masala
Ketan Mehta’s critically acclaimed Mirch Masala documents the exploitation of women in a male-dominated village of Gujarat.
Its intense screenplay takes a breather to showcase a radiant garba performed by the rural women in ethnic clothing played by Smita Patil, Deepti Naval, Supriya and Ratna Pathak.
Suhaag
Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha’s well co-ordinated dandiya raas ensures the devotional track from Suhaag, O Sheronwali leaves a mark.
Thirty-four years and still going strong.
Saraswatichandra
And here’s the earliest depiction of garba on screen.
Based on Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi’s Gujarati novel, Saraswatichandra (which is currently aired as an ongoing TV series created by Sanjay Leela Bhansali) features a powerhouse Nutan performing the traditional form in the superhit song, Main toh bhool chali babul ka des.