Slipping into the rhythm

Bouquets and brickbats have both come in abundance in over 20 years of their successful career that began in the South and later extended to Hindi films as well, flourishing in both regions even today. Saajan, Khiladi, Khuda Gawah, Mohra, Vijaypath, Gambler, Karan Arjun, Coolie No 1, Gupt, Ziddi and Tere Naam in Hindi, and Surya and Shankar dada MBBS down South have been among their most popular works. The latest bouquet however has been momentous — the National Award as Best Choreographers for the song ‘Azeem-o-shaan Shahenshah’ in Jodhaa Akbar.

Complete professionals, Chinni and Rekha Prakash, husband and wife, are a unique duo because they cross the North-South divide: Chinni is from Rajasthan, with a lineage of classical Kathak dancers from the royal darbars there. His father Chunnilal and uncles Sohanlal and Hiralal graduated to cinema choreography. Chunnilal took on the name Chinni (which means little or small in Tamil), and with a partner from the South formed the eminent choreographer duo Chinni-Sampath that ruled the 70s and 80s.

“My uncles worked with the big names in Mumbai and dabbled in Hindi films down South. My father worked in the reverse way,” says Chinni, smiling. “Rekha is a trained Kuchipudi dancer who wanted to work in cinema and had assisted my father. She was 200 songs old as an independent choreographer when we worked separately on two different songs in a Tamil film named Mr Vijay and then joined hands.” Chinni’s older son Sushwanth will now carry on the lineage.

So how does it feel to have won the national honour? Rekha admits that she is more thrilled than Chinni. “We did not believe the news when someone called us from Bangalore. We were in a shoot.” Her husband says that they will now have to choose their work with care, and admits that the winning song was the most difficult one they have done so far. “There were 500 dancers but Hrithik Roshan, the star dancer, was just sitting on his throne. The rehearsals went on for weeks and I had done a shot-to-shot breakup of details!” The duo is busy and has just won accolades for their spectacular work in Veer as well as the song ‘Ibn-e-batuta’ in Ishqiya.

Inspired by everything — from story, director and composition to lyrics (“Very important!”), and the stars of course — Chinni laughs when asked what brickbats they have faced since they broke through with ‘Jumma chumma’ in Hum, a novel concept at the time.

“The Cinemascope screen made it look as if the frame was empty, as if only the hero and heroine were alone in a song,” says Chinni. “We began to fill it with dancers, and we have been accused of starting this trend that many see as a bad one! Even with filmmakers it was a struggle. But for us, choreography was always about the entire audiovisual aspect, not just about steps. Facial expressions, camera angles and lighting were all important to boost a song. Like the beer mugs and foam and the backlit silhouettes of the dancers in ‘Jumma chumma’.”

About the best dancers in the industry, all they say is, “There are so many technically-perfect actors and actresses, but few who literally forget themselves and just melt into the song. And that’s what actually makes the difference on screen!”

What are their tips to the present choreographers? “Never leave our culture,” thunders Chinni. “Get inspired by anything from abroad but do not forget your Indian classical base. If you have that, even genres like hip-hop become child’s play!”