8/10/2019 HSS Assignment 1

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Venkat Parthasarathy201401180

Presentational MovementMaar Dala Analysis

The dance form that is incorporated in Maar Dala is Mujra , a dance that originated d ring theM ghal era that !as strongly incl ded elements from Kathak " #t can $e classified as a dance of

romance as !ell" Kathak in %anskrit is derived from the kathaka , !hich means the person !ho tellsa story" &ven in this song, !e see the dancer sho!ing a vivid display of her sad story al$eit !ith ahappy demeanor" 'lso, the repeated reference to (hara rang dala) implies that the dancer has felt as dden s rge of life !ithin herself , as the color green can $e tho ght of as an all sion life itself,and she !ants to give control of her life to her lover and hence the repeated statement (maar dala),a statement that proves that she is ready to give everything to her lover"

's !ith many of the #ndian *lassical dances, a kathak dancer also commences her dance $y payingrespect to a partic lar vital element of dance, !hich is her leg ornament in this case" +inBharatanatyam !e pay respect to the floor " #n the (Maar Dala) se- ence at appro.imately 1/0 ,Madh ri Di.it can $e seen !ith a stern e.pression sing painf l movements like sta$$ing andc tting in half and finally giving a r de e.pression of flapping her hands to sho! that she doesn tcare a$o t the visitor and threatens him to leave, !hich is enhanced $y her angry eyes" er eyes,!hich s ddenly $ecome so fierce, forces the visitor to leave"

'fter this, Di.it performs an incredi$le feat of a series of dance moves !ith s ch elegance and mostimportantly an e.tremely good control of her hip and pper $ody" 3ot once, co ld even the mosto$servant vie!er can see her pper $ody o t of control" This !as the tr e $ea ty of this segmentand the rest of the dance moves seemed m ch easier after she ass med control of her pper $ody" #nthe ne.t stan a, Di.it s a!arness of the m sic is e.tremely impressive" The m sic and hercorresponding !ere f lly (in sync) partic larly !hen she performs the first line of the stan a +(3achaand hatheli par sa5aaya) " This is e.emplified !hen she finishes that line and her hands alsofinish the move 5 st at the same time"

The s $se- ent stan a evokes pity in the a dience + ar gham ko h mne ch payya""""" " Di.it shappy demeanor f rther evokes empathy in the a dience for her" 6hen she c ps her hands toindicate that she even received her tro $les !ith dignity and complete s $servience, the a diencefeel a pang of g ilt for the innocence and lack of l ck for *handram khi" This feeling of pity isshort lived !hen Di.it immediately flaps her hand !ith a smile to stop feeling empathy for her"Then, Di.it is seen pl cking thorns !ith not even a shred of pain or discomfort indicating f rtherher acceptance of life s tragedies !hich is follo!ed $y a movement that indicates a flo!er and ho!a harmless thing and act ally a thing that sym$oli es happiness is sta$$ing her in the heart" This

line s ms p *handram khi s +Madh ri Di.it role in the Devdas movie $eca se Di.it accepts herfate as a prostit te !itho t complaining +!hich can $e tho ght of as the thorn $ t the flo!er+!hich is the love for the character that %hah 7 kh han portrays and the happiness it gives her!ill severely damage her $eca se she cannot attain him"

#n the segment !here Madh ri Di.it sings (maar dala) to %hah 7 kh han, a n m$er of emotionsare $ea tif lly encaps lated in her movements" 9irst, she $egs him to kill her, then she challengeshim to kill her, after that she displays an e.pression of affection and asks him to kill her and finallyconcl des $y indicating that she doesn t mind that he kills her" 'ltho gh this doesn t directlytranslate to the act of killing, $ t this indicates that *handram khi !ill accept !hatever her loverdoes to her and even to the e.tent of killing" This portrays the e.tent love that *handram khi had

!hich is a repeated thro gho t this song" The song ends !ith %hah 7 kh han lying do!n ine.treme sadness and *handram khi forgetting to end her dance, !hich is very rare and egregio sespecially amongst dancers of that era" This indicates *handram khi s e.treme affection to!ards

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%hah 7 kh han"

(Maar Dala) can $e tho ght of as one of the most pivotal songs of this movie $eca se it acc ratelydepicts the character of *handram khi and her emotions to!ards the protagonist" The main aspectcontri$ ting to s ch a rich description is her elegant dance movements !hich move in perfectsynchroni ation !ith the m sic" er facial e.pressions $elie not only her o!n self $ t also her

physical condition as the dance !as very rigoro s and hard on the $ody" ence, (Maar dala) is amagn m op s in the field of dance as it does so many things very !ell at the same time"