Venkat Parthasarathy

201401180
Presentational Movement
Maar Dala Analysis
The dance form that is incorporated in Maar Dala is Mujra, a dance that originated dring the
Mghal era that !as strongly inclded elements from Kathak" #t can $e classified as a dance of
romance as !ell" Kathak in %anskrit is derived from the kathaka, !hich means the person !ho tells
a story" &ven in this song, !e see the dancer sho!ing a vivid display of her sad story al$eit !ith a
happy demeanor" 'lso, the repeated reference to (hara rang dala) implies that the dancer has felt a
sdden srge of life !ithin herself , as the color green can $e thoght of as an allsion life itself,
and she !ants to give control of her life to her lover and hence the repeated statement (maar dala),
a statement that proves that she is ready to give everything to her lover"
's !ith many of the #ndian *lassical dances, a kathak dancer also commences her dance $y paying
respect to a particlar vital element of dance, !hich is her leg ornament in this case" +in
Bharatanatyam !e pay respect to the floor," #n the (Maar Dala) se-ence at appro.imately 1/00,
Madhri Di.it can $e seen !ith a stern e.pression sing painfl movements like sta$$ing and
ctting in half and finally giving a rde e.pression of flapping her hands to sho! that she doesn1t
care a$ot the visitor and threatens him to leave, !hich is enhanced $y her angry eyes" 2er eyes,
!hich sddenly $ecome so fierce, forces the visitor to leave"
'fter this, Di.it performs an incredi$le feat of a series of dance moves !ith sch elegance and most
importantly an e.tremely good control of her hip and pper $ody" 3ot once, cold even the most
o$servant vie!er can see her pper $ody ot of control" This !as the tre $eaty of this segment
and the rest of the dance moves seemed mch easier after she assmed control of her pper $ody" #n
the ne.t stan4a, Di.it1s a!arness of the msic is e.tremely impressive" The msic and her
corresponding !ere flly (in sync) particlarly !hen she performs the first line of the stan4a +(3a
chaand hatheli par sa5aaya)," This is e.emplified !hen she finishes that line and her hands also
finish the move 5st at the same time"
The s$se-ent stan4a evokes pity in the adience +2ar gham ko hmne chpayya"""""," Di.it1s
happy demeanor frther evokes empathy in the adience for her" 6hen she cps her hands to
indicate that she even received her tro$les !ith dignity and complete s$servience, the adience
feel a pang of gilt for the innocence and lack of lck for *handramkhi" This feeling of pity is
short lived !hen Di.it immediately flaps her hand !ith a smile to stop feeling empathy for her"
Then, Di.it is seen plcking thorns !ith not even a shred of pain or discomfort indicating frther
her acceptance of life1s tragedies !hich is follo!ed $y a movement that indicates a flo!er and ho!
a harmless thing and actally a thing that sym$oli4es happiness is sta$$ing her in the heart" This
line sms p *handramkhi1s +Madhri Di.it, role in the Devdas movie $ecase Di.it accepts her
fate as a prostitte !ithot complaining +!hich can $e thoght of as the thorn, $t the flo!er
+!hich is the love for the character that %hah 7kh 8han portrays and the happiness it gives her,
!ill severely damage her $ecase she cannot attain him"
#n the segment !here Madhri Di.it sings (maar dala) to %hah 7kh 8han, a nm$er of emotions
are $eatiflly encapslated in her movements" 9irst, she $egs him to kill her, then she challenges
him to kill her, after that she displays an e.pression of affection and asks him to kill her and finally
concldes $y indicating that she doesn1t mind that he kills her" 'lthogh this doesn1t directly
translate to the act of killing, $t this indicates that *handramkhi !ill accept !hatever her lover
does to her and even to the e.tent of killing" This portrays the e.tent love that *handramkhi had
!hich is a repeated throghot this song" The song ends !ith %hah 7kh 8han lying do!n in
e.treme sadness and *handramkhi forgetting to end her dance, !hich is very rare and egregios
especially amongst dancers of that era" This indicates *handramkhi1s e.treme affection to!ards
%hah 7kh 8han"
(Maar Dala) can $e thoght of as one of the most pivotal songs of this movie $ecase it accrately
depicts the character of *handramkhi and her emotions to!ards the protagonist" The main aspect
contri$ting to sch a rich description is her elegant dance movements !hich move in perfect
synchroni4ation !ith the msic" 2er facial e.pressions $elie not only her o!n self $t also her
physical condition as the dance !as very rigoros and hard on the $ody" 2ence, (Maar dala) is a
magnm ops in the field of dance as it does so many things very !ell at the same time"