Dancing to perfection

It is difficult to pinpoint a time period in the life of a person like Vyjayanthimala Bali and ask her questions about her career.

For someone who has proved successful in both her more-popular film career and her pure Bharatanatyam dance career, she holds both in high esteem and struts carefully on a thin line to keep both the worlds far apart. “I want to talk to you about your guru,” I said. Her face began glowing multifold, and she seemed to get into a comfort zone of nostalgia, saying, “Which one?” with a funny high in her voice. “I hope you know this is the centenary of Kittappa Pillai,” I remind her politely. “Oh! Yes! Why not! I owe whatever I have in my dance to him!” she exclaims as she gets ready to give me a trip down memory lane and her long-standing association with the celebrated dance guru.

Everyone knows that Vyjayanthimala performed her official debut or arangetram under the mentorship of Vuzhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai. She had a different story to tell, “I first went to Kitappa Pillai long ago. I had, by then, finished my arangetram, but I was not satisfied. I realised I needed more perfection in my dance. When I was small, I had seen Pandanallur Jayalakshmi dancing. I remember seeing her sprightly dance.

Her leaps! She was like electricity! I remember going back home, standing in front of the mirror and trying to copy her dance! Her layam and taalam were unmatchable! In a very short span, when I was only 13, my arangetram was organised at our home. It was not a big hall like these days. We had a shamiana, and Rajamannar was invited as a guest to witness my dance. It went off very well. In the meantime, I remember Dhandayuthapani Pillai had gone to Kalakshetra to sing. Thatha, that is Meenakshisundaram Pillai, was teaching there. He wanted me to be his student. I was more than ready, except I had to start from basics all over again! I took up the challenge and won their praise,” she recollects her earliest memories with the great maestros.

Complementary music

Vyjayanthi herself was trained in classical vocal music from no one lesser than legends like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and later D K Pattammal. “My whole family had strong faith in music. Aryakudi would visit our home. I remember learning a Todi Varnam-Era Naapai from him. He was a tough taskmaster and wanted nothing but the best! I also learnt some music from Manakkal Sivarajan and Sivanandam vaadyaar,” she recollects speaking about her music gurus.

How essential was music to her training as a dancer? “Music is the backbone of dance. Without music, there is no dance. I believe a dancer has to learn music and has to know good music inside out to bring out the best dance in her. Without music, what kind of dance is possible? Sangeetam and natyam have to blend. They were meant for each other. Today, dancers don’t know music and vice versa. I remember in my time, my guru’s song and my footwork had to be one. When he sat there for me, it was not just him but a representation of his whole lineage. The bhava came automatically,” she says speaking about the importance of music for a dancer.

Vyjayanthi has been hailed as a queen of abhinaya among her contemporaries. “Basic quality is to understand music and lyrics. And then bring out the nuances of it. With age and experience, you get your own knowledge. It is important to read and learn. Our own mythologies have such strong stories worth telling. I never rehearse my abhinaya. It is never the same even if I repeat the same varnam in two performances. I always built up spontaneously right then and there. That spontaneity comes with your own interest in the art. All within the line! That is very important. Else you can easily stoop to vulgarity and cheapness. The art form is divine, and you, as a dancer, should bring out the divinity in your dance and give that experience to the audience,” she says, giving a few tips about how dancers can develop their own abhinayam.

Drawing a line

While she is equally popular both in the dance world and on silver screen, it wasn’t easy to monitor the public opinion about her. “I had to struggle a lot. I had a very successful film career that came in the way of my dance. I was a fairly good Bharatanatyam dancer, and people couldn’t swallow that. How could I be good at both? They would say ‘people go to her shows because she is a superstar on screen’.

But thanks to god’s mercy and my grandmother’s disciplining, I never got even a little bit of my film influence my dance. I tried to take whatever I could from my dance into my films, if possible. But I kept the two strictly apart. I find it surprising how today’s dancers easily make their dances suited for film than anyone. I have done hundreds of films and worked hard at keeping the two apart. Today, dancers go and dance to film songs in the name of Bharatanatyam. I don’t understand that. To hold an audience is very important. As far as I am concerned, subtlety and dignity are very important. Art has to be kept in a very esteemed and exalted position. What you are depicting is divine,” she says.

Importance of a ‘guru’

Vyjayanthimala has trained in classical dance under some of the most celebrated gurus of all times. “I feel blessed to have learnt from gurus of great caliber and standing. Where are gurus today? You get a lot by quantity but lacking in quality.

Today, kids who are barely in their twenties have become gurus! How much do they know to teach someone else? A guru holds an exalted position in your life. It is not a timepass profession or a moneymaking tactic,” she explains the idea of who a guru is to her. At her age, she continues to stand exemplary in her dance. Ask her a message for today’s dancers, or the secret of her success, and she says, “Today’s dancers must avoid shortcuts to success. They lack patience. They need to know that what they have got into is a great art form. Don’t try to do too many things at one time. Take it slow and easy, and you will enjoy every moment of your life in the dance,” she says.

She was recently in Bangalore to conduct a dance workshop organised by art consultant Usha R K. Going by her confidence and conviction, Vyjayanthimala is a true custodian of fading old values that the world of dance needs to learn from and stay inspired.