When Mayuri Upadhya strikes a dance pose, her movement becomes her vocabulary. Her work has broken barriers, reached out to the world and built a universal language of expression through dance.
In a chat with Anila Kurian, the dancer and choreographer, married to Raghu Dixit, talks about working on Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Mirzya’ and the classic K Asif’s ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ that was adapted into a Broadway style live musical play directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.
Take us through your dance journey.
My mother always wanted a daughter who took interest in dance and hence named me ‘Mayuri’. When she noticed my interest, she got me enrolled in a dance school to learn bharathanatyam. I felt weird that I was learning only one form of dance, so I also experimented with contemporary and folk dance and even got into martial training. I had the desire to experience and learn different styles and methods. Even with the challenges, some dance forms came to me naturally. I learnt a lot from each form of dance.
Which dance form came more naturally to you?
The classical dance form would be much easier for me. Since bharathanatyam is my base, I enjoy odissi and kathak as well.
Tell us about your experience in ‘Mirzya’.
This movie was my launchpad to Bollywood. I worked with my own dancers from ‘Nritarutya Dance Trust’. It was a different kind of work since shooting movies is not that easy. We had a lot of challenges before us but since I was given the creative liberty to choreograph this, it was a blissful experience.
What were some of the challenges you faced?
It was important that the dance language spoke to the audience. Since I am not a trained Bollywood choreographer, I had to learn the way it actually functions. The most difficult was for my dancers to adjust to the timings of the shoot. The pressure and method of approach to doing one scene early morning and the next one sometime later in the day was challenging.
Your work on ‘Mughal-E-Azam’.
It was a musical success in Mumbai and we were overbooked! We had to introduce extra shows and that were completely booked as well. But it was a magical experience. The name itself had so many expectations attached to it that we had to ensure everything was replicated with authenticity and in a classy manner. I worked with trained kathak dancers who were brilliant and I am glad everything went off well. The musical is getting ready to go international soon.
Do you enjoy the status of being Raghu Dixit’s wife?
I used to be known as his wife initially. But I think my work speaks for me now. I enjoy being known as Mayuri Upadhya. I’m not a rebellious person; I love being his wife but I also like who I am.
So how good a singer are you and how good a dancer is he?
(Laughs) I am a terrible singer but Raghu is a great dancer. He gives me a lot of constructive criticism and that has helped me grow. I like the fact that he gives me his opinion, not as my spouse but as my audience.