Birju Maharaj

Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 17 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj. He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist.<ref name=enc>Template:Cite book</ref> After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, until his retirement in 1998 when he opened his own dance school, Kalashram, also in Delhi.<ref>Massey, p. 29</ref>

Birju Maharaj was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor, in 1986.

Early life

Maharaj was born Brijmohan Nath Mishra, on 4 February 1938<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> into a Hindu Brahmin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> family at Handia of Allahabad district. His father was the Kathak exponent, Jagannath Maharaj, popularly known as Acchan Maharaj of Lucknow gharana and the Kalka-Bindadin family in Lucknow.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> His father served as the court dancer in Raigarh princely state.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Maharaj started dancing early at the age of four, and was trained by his uncles, Lachhu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj and his father. He started his performances first at his father's concerts before performing solo at the age of seven in West Bengal.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="life">Template:Cite web </ref> His father died when Maharaj was nine.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Maharaj started teaching the dance form at the age of thirteen, at the Sangeet Bharti in New Delhi. He then taught at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra in Delhi, and at the Kathak Kendra (a unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi) where he was Head of Faculty, and director, retiring in 1998<ref name="retires">Template:Cite web</ref> after which he opened his own dance school, Kalashram, also in Delhi.<ref name=":1" />

In addition to performing the Kathak dance form, he also brought along knowledge of Hindustani classical music and percussion instruments. He was noted to have been able to sing the thumri while dancing to it, and also playing instruments like the tabla and the dholak. His Kathak performances in addition to mythological stories had contemporary elements including stories from daily life and social issues being communicated by way of the dance.<ref name=":1" /> His ginti ki tihaais (Template:Translation) were noted to have been studied by Kathak students. He collaborated with other artists including the tabla player Zakir Hussain, and singers Rajan and Sajan Mishra.<ref name=":1" /> Some of his students included Priti Singh, Saswati Sen, Aditi Mangaldas, and Nisha Mahajan.<ref name=":1" />

Maharaj also choreographed and composed music for many Indian movies. Some of the performances that he choreographed included for Saswati Sen in Satyajit Ray's Shatranj ke Khiladi (1977), Madhuri Dixit in Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Devdas (2002) and Dedh Ishqiya (2014), Kamal Haasan in Vishwaroopam (2012), Deepika Padukone in Bajirao Mastani (2015) and Alia Bhatt in Kalank (2019).<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His choreography for Kamal Hassan in Vishwaroopam won him the National Film Award for Best Choreography in 2012,<ref name="60thaward" /> while his choreography for Deepika Padukone in Bajirao Mastani won him a Filmfare Award for Best Choreography in 2016.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref>

Maharaj was one of the youngest artists to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, when he received the award at the age of 28. He also received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 1986.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="indianexpress.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Maharaj was married and had five children<ref name="indianexpress.com"/> (2 sons and 3 daughters). In later life, Maharaj had kidney disease and diabetes, and received dialysis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He died from a heart attack at his residence in Delhi, on 16 January 2022, at age 83.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and honours

• 1964 – Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• 1986 – Padma Vibhushan<ref name="Off" />
• 1986 – Nritya Choodamani Award by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1987 – Kalidas Samman
• 2002 – Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar<ref name="CI">Template:Cite web</ref>
• honorary doctorate from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya<ref name="CI" /><ref name="Off">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Honorary doctorate from Banaras Hindu University<ref name="CI" />
• Sangam Kala Award<ref name="CI" />
• Bharat Muni Sammaan<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Andhra Ratna<ref name="Off" />
• Nritya Vilas Award<ref name="Off" />
• Adharshila Shikhar Samman<ref name="Off" />
• Soviet Land Nehru Award<ref name="Off" />
• National Nritya Shiromani Award<ref name="Off" />
• Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award<ref name="Off" />
• Newsmakers Achievers Award in 2017<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Film

• 2012 – National Film Award for Best Choreography for Unnai Kaanaathu (Vishwaroopam)<ref name="60thaward">Template:Cite press release</ref>
• 2016 – Filmfare Award for Best Choreography for Mohe Rang Do Laal (Bajirao Mastani)<ref name=":2" />

Controversy

In the immediate aftermath of Birju Maharaj's passing away, multiple victims came forward on social media to share stories of being sexually harassed by him from body shaming to asking for sex as a bribe.<ref name="indiejournal.in">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="shethepeople.tv">Template:Cite web</ref> This led some to re-examine the power imbalances in the Guru-shishya tradition of Indian classical arts.<ref name="mid-day.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="womansweb.in">Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of Kathak dancers
• Māni Mādhava Chākyār

References

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Pandit Birju Maharaj Template:Webarchive (Official Website)
• Template:Webarchive