For quite a good number of years now, I have been aware that the day when many people observe Christmas Eve is also Mohammed Rafi’s birth anniversary. I have also known about a couple of other Golden Age/Vintage Hindi film music star anniversaries surrounding that: Noor Jehan’s death anniversary (December 23) and Naushad’s birth anniversary (December 25 or the 26th, depending on what source you go to). And I have mentioned and observed all of these anniversaries at some point in this blog’s past. So, obviously, this chunk of a few days can be very significant for people who love Golden Age Indian film music. But it’s only very recently that I found out that December 24 can also be seen as a very significant day for people who love Golden Age Indian film dance – and kathak dance and dance in general. That’s because Roshan Kumari was also born on Christmas Eve! There have been varying opinions regarding what year Roshan Kumari was born, but I think it’s fairly safe to say, based on some articles that I have seen, that she was born in 1937. This means that today, Roshan Kumari turns 84. (And yes, she still is with us, and no, I am not feeling too superstitious about typing that.) And so, it’s about time that I posted a Roshan Kumari birthday tribute.
Of course, I have written a few posts about Roshan Kumari before. If you include the comments under the post, then I think the most comprehensive one is something that I posted 11 years ago, Finally, A Little More Info About Roshan Kumari. But I’m going to keep this post pretty simple, providing clips of seven Roshan Kumari dances, with just a little text for each one. (Although if people would like to complicate things a little in comments again, I am also fine with that.) More than half of these dances have also appeared in this blog before, but since I posted them in a scattered way over a long time period (and also a long time back), I thought it would be especially nice to show them all collected together now. On top of that, just to do something a little different this time, I’m going to rank them. (I don’t know if everyone will agree with the ranks, though I don’t think anyone will disagree with number 1.) But the rank doesn’t matter all that much, because every single one of these dances is very enjoyable.
I should add one more point before I start this list: Because the first two dances below were not as fully confirmed to be Roshan Kumari dances as the higher-ranking ones, there is a very slight chance that the dancer in one of these is not Roshan Kumari. I’ll explain within the description how it was that I/we came to the conclusion that she was in this dance, and how there could be any doubt. But in the slight chance that someone sees that I have misidentified the dancer, please speak up! And in such event, congratulations to the dancer who managed so well to resemble Rosahan Kumari and dance so well on top of that.
7. Jhansi Ki Rani (1953) [revised since this post originally went up]: In comments to my blog from eleven years ago, Cassidy Minai of Cinema Nritya pointed out that Roshan Kumari had been in Jhansi Ki Rani. A conversation ensued in which we were trying to figure out whether she appeared in both of two dances – the only dances in the film, actually, at least in the abbreviated English-language version, The Tiger and the Flame.
When I first put the present post up, I picked out one of the two dances to claim as my choice number 7 on this list. Unfortunately, more recently, I have been alerted to evidence that the lead dancer in the clip that I posted probably wasn’t Roshan Kumari. (This evidence came in the form of a comment below Tom Daniel’s post on YouTube, saying that the dancer was actually someone else.)
So now, I am posting the other dance. I believe there is still a chance that one star of this dance is Roshan Kumari, because I think that a prominent dancer here does look like her (starting at about 2:13). It is also a really nice dance (though I actually do like the next six on this list even more). If anyone knows that this is not Roshan Kumari, please pass that information along. It would be disappointing to find out that this dancer isn’t her either, but it wouldn’t be too terrible, given that this post would still contain six delightful dances by Roshan Kumari.
6. Waris (1954): It took me a little bit of time to feel definite about her presence in the dance in Waris (1954). That’s mostly because the film’s a bit blurry here and she isn’t on the screen for all that long. But the quality of the dance makes it more clear to me that this is Roshan Kumari, and multiple sources confirm that she was in Waris. By the way, the scene in general is a lot of fun, and the music is great. (The music in the whole film is great – which is not surprising since the music director is Anil Biswas.)
5. Basant Bahar (1957): Roshan Kumari does some sweet kathak dancing in this scene in Basant Bahar, but note that I am referring to the Bengali film from 1957, not the Hindi Basant Bahar that we usually refer to (which came out in 1956). I haven’t seen the rest of this film and I don’t know the context of this scene (maybe it’s part of opening credits?), but there are a few tricks being pulled in the visuals here, especially involving the superimposition of images. The clip is not all that clear technically, but it’s certainly interesting to look at. There is a nice emphasis on Roshan Kumari’s chakkars (spins) and then on her footwork at the end, which segues amusingly into a pair of feet with shoes on them walking as the camera tracks them from the front. It’s certainly unique! (By the way, apparently, the video won’t embed, so you are going to have to go to YouTube for this one – but it’s well worth the extra click!)
4. Mirza Ghalib (1954): Roshan Kumari’s dance scene in Mirza Ghalib feels a little like a small dress rehearsal for the scene that I’m giving the number one spot. It certainly does remind me of the dance in Jalsaghar in ways, though Mirza Ghalib was made a few years earlier. I think part of the reason is the music. In both scenes there is a heavy emphasis on that classical Indian drone. And the moves in her kathak dance here kind of match some of her moves in Jalsaghar. But this is just a short performance – it really feels like a snippet – and I would say that it seems relatively light.
3. Kathak (documentary from Films Division) (1970): Of course, this clip is different from the others in that it is from a different time (since all the others that I’m including are from the ‘50s) and is of a different nature, too. It is the Roshan Kumari segment of a kathak documentary put out in 1970 by Films Division, the state-owned/run film and broadcast company. But it’s still as good a clip of Roshan Kumari as almost any, clearly showing her doing the pure kathak dance that she is best known for (and which would also serve her well as a kathak guru later in life).
2. Parineeta (1953): By all indications (at least in searches that I have done), this is the first film dance that Roshan Kumari performed in, when she was barely 15 years old. But it is fantastic. Probably, part of the reason it seems so great is that she’s in a duet with Gopi Krishna, who was, himself, only 18 years old at the time. I could say that it’s just amazing for these dancers to have been so good at such a young age, except that that was not so unusual for the great film dancers of the Golden Age. Anyway, this scene is both fun and funny, but at the same time, it shows some serious skills. How could someone not love the part of the dance that zeros in on both dancers’ footwork? Oh, and look at those spins after that! I’ve watched Parineeta only twice – and it was a pretty good film. But I’ve watched this dance many more times than that.
1. Jalsaghar (1958): It almost seems unnecessary to say anything about Roshan Kumari’s dance in Jalsaghar. I have said a lot before, as have many others. This is the film dance that she’s known for. Her kathak dancing is close to perfection, and it is filmed in the most enchanting way. The camera angles are very unique but also so natural-seeming, and I love the remarkable use of the mirror in the back. Then there is the deliberately mesmerizing footwork close-up near the end… It’s obvious that in addition to performing with such great skill, Roshan Kumari was very lucky to be filmed by the cinematographer named Subrata Mitra in a film directed by Satyajit Ray.
And now that I have finished the list, let me say that it feels very good to have written a birthday tribute to Roshan Kumari that was long overdue. I have been writing about her in this blog for so long; I wish I had known about her birthday years earlier. And I wish that other people did, too. Happy birthday, Roshan Kumari!
Dances on the Footpath 
I am a bit rushed right now, so only had the time to read your very interesting post, Richard. Will watch these clips sometime later (though I am hitting myself for not being really able to recall any of those dances, even though I’ve pretty much seen all the films). The Jalsaghar one I remember vividly, the others I need to watch again. :-)
Madhu, thank you for reading and commenting on this post even though you have been so rushed! :) You watch a lot of films, so there’s no need for you to hit yourself for not recalling Roshan Kumari’s dances in these particular films, especially if you were not looking for her. But it would be fun to see what you think when you do get around to (re)watching these dances.
What beautiful dances! I actually think I most enjoyed the “Basant Bahar” song and the excerpt from the documentary, given that I hadn’t seen either one before. (What a color scheme they chose for those sets in “Kathak,” though—perhaps the Films Division people had just gotten a technicolor camera and wanted to show it off?) I appreciated being able to see her dancing full-length most of the time, as one would if when watching a stage performance. In the “Basant Bahar” song the effect is almost exactly opposite, with the individual gestures of the dance becoming somewhat divorced from her whole body by the other images. Despite the degradation of the image, I found it really compelling. It reminds me of an ‘80s movie that I recently rewatched a couple of times (simply called “Ghungroo”), in which the ghungroos are a visual symbol throughout the first half of the film.
Of course, even in a documentary, the camera is guiding one’s eye somewhat. Still, these two examples got me thinking more about how camerawork and editing can present the same dance to an audience in different ways.
”In the “Basant Bahar” song the effect is almost exactly opposite, with the individual gestures of the dance becoming somewhat divorced from her whole body by the other images.”
Yes, but you have to take into account that someone – either the uploader or the Angel media company – cropped (removed) picture in an effort to make it widescreen, as if they’re better directors and cinematographers than the original people. As a result of this all-too-common practice, heads and feet are cut off, something that’s especially bad for the dancers whose feet movements are so important. I agree with you that in spite of the chemical degradation of the film of that dance, it’s spectacular. As is the color Films Division one. Thanks, Richard, for your efforts to gather in one place all of Roshan Kumari’s filmed output.
Richard,
I must confess I knew nothing about Roshan Kumari. And after watching the clips and going through your previous article on Roshan Kumari, now I became aware of her bio un detail.
I was supremely surprised to know about her mother. Zohrabai ambalewali is one of my most favourite playback singers of the 40s and I’m planning a post on her song next year.
Thanks a ton for these posts. Really informative and insightful. And I should visit Vidur sury’s blog. I think it would be very interesting.
Anup
:-)
Shelomit, I am glad you agree that these dances are beautiful!
Most of the film clips of Roshan Kumari are great in their own way, so I can certainly understand liking a couple of them more than the others if you haven’t seen them before.
I like your description about how the Basant Bahar clip is the opposite of the documentary clip – nicely put!
I haven’t seen that ’80s film called Ghungroo, but I’ve seen references to it before. You’ve made me more curious about that movie, so I’ll have to watch it sometime.
Hi, Tom. You are right about the technical stupidity of the cropping done by some of those people who put together the videos. (And, of course, you would recognize that more than anyone because of all the technical work you do on YouTube videos, yourself – but to make them actually look better, not worse!) But I’m also surprised at how filmmakers and videomakers, themselves, sometimes forget how important it is to give a full shot of the dancer’s feet – especially in a dance like kathak, in which footwork plays such a such a significant role.
It is nice to see you concur that the Basant Bahar dance is spectacular in spite of those problems.
And you’re welcome regarding my efforts to gather together Roshan Kumari’s filmed output. Thank you, too – considering that four of the seven videos in this post are from your YouTube channel and a fifth is one that you prepared and sent to me a while back so that I could post it on my channel. :)
Anup, I am very glad to be the one who let you know about Roshan Kumari!
I like Zohrabai Ambalewali a lot, too. Now as I’m writing this, for Naushad’s birthday, I am listening to the soundtrack to Rattan. :) I am looking forward to your Zohrabai post!
Regarding Vidur Sury’s blog, if you follow the link to his name in the comments to that old Roshan Kumari post, you’ll find that the blog is blank. He had blogs that contained a lot of stuff to refer to, but then he canceled those blogs. He has some stuff buried in a newer blog that is more general, not completely devoted to old Hindi films and songs. I think I’ve been able to find some other old blog posts of his somewhere, but it’s not easy. I am not sure why he’s done things this way, but I thought I should warn you so that you won’t be disappointed…
Richard,
I visited the blog and couldn’t find much about old Hindi film. I was disappointed.
Anyways, I did it before reading your reply.
And,
Zohrabai post for sure in next year.
:-)
Hi Richard- aren’t you forgetting “the Music Room”, 1958, dir. Satyajit Ray? Totally unbelievable dance scene in there. It’s what led me to Roshan Kumari.
OOPS! My bad; never mind ;-)
Geo Homsy – your bad. LOL That’s all right. I can understand if you remembered the English title but not the Bengali title… And you had to scroll down a lot since it was Nuumber One. :)
Yes, Jalsaghar/The Music Room was the first thing that led me to Roshan Kumari too. But then I saw her in Parineeta and a couple of other things… And I became more curious about her when I learned that she was the daughter of Zohrabai Ambalewali, whose singing I enjoyed very much also. And, so as you can see, I became a fan.
Anyway, thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to comment here whenever you like.