Kathak maestro and doyen, Birju Maharaj breathed his last probably due to a cardiac arrest at his Delhi residence on January 17, 2022, at the age of 83. Brijmohan Nath Mishra was born into the illustrious Kalka-Bindadeen gharana, the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers from Lucknow, which included his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Achhan Maharaj. He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist.
Career
After working along with his uncle, Shambhuji, at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, (a unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi), New Delhi, he continued as the head of the Kathak Kendra till his retirement in 1998. Thereafter, he opened his own dance school, Kalashram, in Delhi.
His deep immersion in Kathak, astute observation of nature/humanity, and expansive imagination took this dance form beyond geographic context. He brought Kathak to the centre-stage, nationally, and internationally, and kept intact the essence of the dance form in spite of transforming its repertoire, presentation, pedagogy, and life-span. He practised it and gave every life experience, however minute, a new meaning through his most profound dance. He also wrote poems and painted too!
Maharaj ji started teaching dancing when he was just thirteen year old at the Sangeet Bharti in New Delhi. He taught at the Bhartiya Kala Kendra in New Delhi, and the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi. Besides performing the Kathak dance form, he also brought along knowledge of Hindustani classical music and percussion instruments. He sang the thumri while dancing to it, and also played instruments like the tabla and the dholak.
Achievement
Birju Maharaj was an exponent of fusing contemporary elements including stories from daily life and social issues along with the classical and mythological elements in the classical dance form. His ginti ki tihaais (a charged and percussive phrase, repeated thrice to end with explosive effect) were noted to have been studied by Kathak students.
Not only this, Maharaj ji also choreographed and composed music for many Indian movies, including Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Devdas (2002), Bajirao Mastani (2015), and Kalank (2019), etc.
Maharaj ji won the National Film Award for best choreography in 2012 for Vishwaroopam, while his choreography for Bajirao Mastani won him a Filmfare Award for best choreography in 2016. He was one of the youngest artists to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award at the age of 28. He also received India’s second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 1986. He won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1964.
Birju Maharaja’s dance underlines the features of Lucknow Kalka-Bindadin Gharana which is a part of Lucknow Gharana. It was developed by Kalka Bindadin Maharaj of Lucknow.
© Spectrum Books Pvt Ltd.