News Desk |
Hema Malini is 70, but she still takes our breath away, thanks to her peaches-and-cream complexion and candid demeanor. Age clearly hasn’t slowed down the ‘Dream Girl’, as she is popularly known, who has been entertaining and enthralling the audiences with her classical dance recitals. The Bollywood icon– who is proficient in classical dances like Kathak– is scheduled to perform a ballet on January 22 in India as a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Celebrations [an event to remember the contributions of non-resident Indians to the development of India].
Apart from many political, industrial, and other biggies from various walks of life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, will be the attendee of the mega event.
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As she speaks about her ballet Ganga, which is based on the theme of the Hindu’s holy river by the same name, Hema’s eyes light up. She says, “The concept had been with me for a long time. I wanted to make it four-five years ago, but it’s finally happening now. It was Union Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swarajji who told me, ‘Aap Ganga peek dance ballet Karo [you should do a ballet on Ganga].’ This was six-seven months ago. So, I thought, I better do it.”
The septuagenarian ensured that she roped in the best of talents to collaborate for her recital. She elaborates, “I got Ashit Desai and Alap Desai to compose the music. The compositions are Indian music with fusion. The choreography is by Bhushan Lakandri, who has done all my ballets. Ram Govind has done the research while Devdutt Pattanaik is the consultant. Whatever I do, I will ask him, so no one criticizes me tomorrow. The concept and story are mines. I scripted it after speaking to sadhus and sanyasis [religious gurus].”
The actress is involved in every aspect of her performance. She is supervising the costumes to be worn by the dance troupe and offers suggestions to the designer on how to make each girl stand out. Simultaneously, she admits that she has been able to maintain herself because her passion for dance continues unabated.
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Hema says, “The ballet will have a combination of many Indian dance forms. Of course, there’s a beautiful Kathak number performed by the troupe. It’s a lovely concept. I was so obsessed with this ballet that I kept thinking of it continuously.” Her passion for her dream project is evident when she explains in great details, the effort that has gone into it.
She elaborates, “Vibhore Khandelwal, who has worked on the Kingdom Of Dreams among several other shows, has done the VFX of this 90-minute ballet. His work is of high technical quality. The special effects are beautiful; the whole stage is filled with girls, performing Kathak. And they have dressed in such a way that it looks like a whole lot of water is splashing on stage.”
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It’s evident that Hema has dedicated a lot of time to the performance when she mentions, “We have been working on the compositions for three months and kept on making several alterations. Just two days ago, we finalized the music. Now, there will be no more changes.”