With Navratri approaching, it’s difficult not to recall songs from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s films Gangubai Kathiawadi, which have captured the festive spirit for a new generation of moviegoers. For a long time, Navratri playlists have included Nagada sang dhol, Bhai bhai, and Lahu muh lag gaya from Ram Leela, as well as Dholi taaro from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
Bhansali’s upcoming film, Gangubai Kathiawadi, starring Alia Bhatt, is expected to include two Garba numbers. We’re quite sure one of them contains Alia because it was the last song shot before the movie was completed. We spoke to choreographer Kruti Mahesh Midya, who choreographed the Garba numbers in the next Bhansali epic opus, which releases in the first week of January 2022, because none of the Garba songs from Bhansali’s flicks have resembled one another. She’s also the choreographer behind Ghoomar, which garnered her a National Award for her work in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat.
“As you travel around Gujarat, you’ll notice that Garba takes on distinct forms and flavors. It’s basically just moving around in circles and clapping at regular intervals, but it’s grown into a dance form through time and differs by location. We tried something similar with Alia Bhatt in Gangubai Kathiawadi, which was a unique spin on Garba with a Kathiawadi flavor. It’s quite different from what you’d see in Mumbai. The minor elements, such as how people turn and clap, are what distinguishes it all.
Kruti, who specializes in fusing folk and traditional dance styles with a Bollywood flare, says, “God is in the details, and it’s these nuances that make all the difference.”
Reportedly, Alia was shooting a Garba song which remained incomplete for a long time due to her COVID diagnosis, and the subsequent halt on film shoots for several weeks earlier this year. Bring this up and Kruti says, “It felt like we have lived on that set for a very long time. It was a challenge to come back to that set with the same dancers and with the same energy. It did take Alia and all of us some time to get things in motion. But she did a fantastic job and she proves why filmmakers love to work with her – she is a complete professional who surrenders to her director, her choreographer, and the character.
