Dance Raja Dance!

Over the years, we have produced an amazing number of heroes in Indian cinema. Here, I endeavour to trace the evolution of dance in Indian films, starting circa 1983 (for the ignorant, my brain began contributing to the computation in this year).

People loved Mithunda back then. I guess they still do, I mean, who else has made such a wide range of films and flopped with such amazing regularity? For those of you who often take pains to beg to disagree or generally beg for a living, please refer to this.

He was the guy who really started it all in India, here is a masterpiece from that film:


And there was this too:


Brilliant, no?

I think around this time there was a surplus of electricity in Karnataka. Some creative mastermind took advantage of this situation and came up with this:



baDDi maganige lakwaa hoDeetu annstide (It looks like the interest son was hit by a stroke).

Around the same time, Tamizhnaad was waging a war against our indi brethren. Not to be left far behind in showcasing our heroes' dancing talents, the asal tamizh makkaL came up with this:



That was the 80s.

And the 90s was a bore. Forgettable decade in which Indian cinema did nothing pioneering, well, almost. But the bottomline is that I don't have anything to write about it, and hence, it was a forgettable decade.

Since I have come to the US of A, my exposure to Indian cinema has reduced drastically. But then, when something revolutionary happens, somehow, I will get the news. And then, I just stand up and notice because of lack of better things to do.



I think that the next logical step in Indian film dance would be this:




Phew! Oh! by the way, the last 2 videos are picturised on the same guy.

Rebirth ambitions...

If I am reborn, these are the 5 people that I will collectively want to be:

1) Rajinikanth in Padaiyappa: Ah! The charm, the grace, the gait, all in one slick package. En vazhi tanee vazhi!(My route is different). Ah! What a line! kaNNu, nee oru aambaLaiya kalyaaNam paNNikkaNamunnu aasai paDarai. naa oru pombaLaiya kalyaaNam paNNikkaNamunnu aasai paDarEn. anda poNNu nee illai (Dear, you want to marry a true man. I want to marry a true woman. You, are not that woman).

2) Rajinikanth in Mannan: Tame the haughty woman, I say. Yeah. Give it to her, show her the works of how the poor guy rocks in front of the rich, arrogant girl by promptly marrying her while remaining union leader in her company itself!.

3) Rajinikanth in Muthu: Drive the cart, sing some nice songs, be loyal to the master while owning the whole damn thing that your master enjoys, albeit without your own knowledge. Oruvan oruvan modalaaLi, ulagil maTTravan tozhilaaLi. vidhiyai nilaippavan EmaaLi adai veMDru muDippavan arivaaLi (There is one owner, the rest in the world are workers. One who is dependent on fate is a loser, the one who beats it is the smart guy!) Ah! What a song! kalakiTTai talaivaa (You rock, leader!)

4) Rajinikanth in Sivaji: Beat the system for doing good to other people. If someone swindles you of all your money (made as a software systems architect in the US of A, something like 200 Cr INR. How, may I know?), just call him saying a that the IT department is going to raid his place and expose his unaccounted assets, check where he packs them off, take them from there and get your money back. Also make about 46 000 crores by doing this to other such evil people. Finally, when he tries to kill you, Sivaji himself, somehow beat the system again and return as MGR!

5) Finally, Rajinikanth in Thalapathi: What an intense film! The scene in which he says Go Fish to Amrish Puri is just kick ass. As is the scene in which he says goodbye to his beloved. An absolutely slick movie! Rakammaa kaiya taTTu. Enough said!




(For those of you who did not get it yet, this is the quintessential a fanboy article!)

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