Everything I Learned, I Learned from Tawaifs

After school, when all the other kids were riding their bikes or playing baseball , my sister and I would run home into our basement, turn on one of our favorite Bollywood movies and learn a new dance. She was always the choreographer and I would mimic the movements. Over 13 years later, I thought I’d revisit some of our favorite movies to dance to and I realized that every single one was an epic that revolved around a tawaif who was taught the skill of dance to grab the attention of a man, only to lose it in a dramatic ending. I not only learned how to dance through these movies, but also some life lessons I still hold to today. I’ve picked a few songs to illustrate what I mean.

1.  Always Dress to Impress

Movie: Umrao Jaan

Song: In aankhon ki maasti ke

I can not begin to count how many times I watched Umrao Jaan. Rekha was a favorite in the house and the one thing that always stood out was her style. In this song particularly, I remember my mother telling us that the director had rented the Nizam of Hyderabad’s jewelry. Her outfit is a simple white anarkali style dress, but its the accessories ornated from her head to her toes that draw your attention. This was also about the time that I became obsessed with mehndi, it intruiged me how much red fingertips could draw attention to simple hand movements.

Always dress to impress. The director could have brought fake jewelry and the audience probably wouldn’t have known the difference.  When you know that everything you are emitting is coming from a real place, the audience will draw on that and be engrossed in what you are delivering.

2. Never Underestimate the Art of Illusion

Movie: Pakeeza

Song: Thare Rahiyo

I never found Meena Kumari to be an exceptional dancer, but it did not matter. I was just as mesmerized by her as I was by the other women portrayed in these roles. In this specific song, even when she does get up to dance, there are no drastic movements. I even find myself enjoying the beginning more when she’s sitting. The idea is that we are drawn by very subtle movements, mostly those that she does neck and above. The entire song, I’m drawn to her neck movements and how she uses her eyes to mimic the beat.

Never underestimate the art of illusion. I learned at a young age, that if you are expressive with your face, no one will notice that the rest of your body is off beat. You are able to capture an audience when they can feel the song through the expressions on your face. They will get lost in the song. This may be a big reason I prefer sitting when doing a dance to these songs bc all the attention is on the top half of your body and you have no choice but to use your eyes and hands to express how you feel.

3.If you can be a bad-ass with one movement, REPEAT.

Movie: Mughal E Azam

Song: Pyar Kiya Tho Darna Kya

I loved hearing the story about the making of this movie, and how it took over 10 years and many bankruptcies to make, but it turned into one of the best epics Bollywood ever produced. Madhubala was IT in our house. There was no one better and no one could come close to her. Again, it wasn’t even that she was an amazing dancer, she just knew how to use her eyes and smile to get the attention she was looking for. This song was always one of my favorites because it was so , for the lack of a better word, bad-ass. Emotions were high in this particular scene. She comes out to disclose her love of the Prince,  knowing his father does not approve. With just one line and two movements, you feel how strong she feels. She lovingly  gestures to the Prince during “jab pyar kiya” and then turns to his father with disdain to deliver “tho darna kya”. If I’ve loved, why should I be afraid. She repeats that movement over and over throughout the song, but my favorite moment is at 2:10 when she is less than two feet away from him.

Only one word describes that: bad-ass. Kudos to the choreographer for not changing that movement, because it resonates everytime she does it. When you have such strong words and there is ony one movement that can really capture it, don’t try something new. Stick to what works, even if it is as simple as a gesture.

4. Grace knows no age.

Movie: Devdas

Song: Maar Dala

It had been a while since anything really inspired me, and then Devdas came out. Devdas marked the return of the queen-Madhuri Dixit. Even though Pakeeza, Umrao Jaan, and MughalEAzam are dear in my heart, no one has the facial expression and dance combination that Madhuri possesses. When you watch her, you forget time and space, and are transported to wherever she is. My favorite part of the song comes at 1:14 when she kinda does a Jay-Z brush your shoulders off before she tells that guy to get the hell out of her whorehouse with her eyes. I also love 3:10 to 3:40, which should be self explanatory.

Grace knows no age. Everyone was afraid it had been a long time since Madhuri had been in anything, but she proved everyone wrong. Even after all those years, she held the grace that was necessary for every song in this movie. She completely showed Aishwariya Rai up in Dola Re, and it was because she took her time and executed every move with grace.

5. Know your limits

Movie: Pakeezah

Song: Inhi logon ne

This was the one song that our mother didn’t let us dance to outside the house, and I never understood why. Until recently I honestly would sing “inhi logon ne le neela dupatta mera” and didn’t understand what was so scandalous about a blue dupatta. Then I realized, those are not the words. Rather it is “inhi logon ne le liya dupatta mera” and realized that this was truly a tawaif song. It all made sense why my mother would stop us from dancing to this song.

Know your limits. As beautiful as the beat is to this song, sometimes you have to realize that its not the message you want to be sending out through your dance. It bothered me when girls would dance to Madhuri’s “Channay ke kehth mein” because that was so obviously a dirty song and I didn’t understand why they would want everyone watching them dance to that. In my opinion, sometimes the words overshadow the song and it may not be what you want to convey.

There are so many more songs, but I can’t begin to lay them all out on one blog. The songs contained in these movies have definitely made an imprint on my life. Each song transports me back to my basement and reminds me of a simpler time when we’d put on our payal and dupattas and dance for hours. Sometimes dance is the best therapy, even if you did learn it from tawaifs.