Mumbai, July 19
Actress Sayantani Ghosh, who will showcase her dancing skills in her show 'Dahej Daasi', revealed her passion for Indian classical dance, although she hasn't yet had the opportunity to pursue it formally.
"When I was very young, probably around six or seven years old, my parents had put me in a generic dance class for a couple of months. At that age, you don't learn much, but it has always been on my bucket list to learn dance -- any form of dance," Sayantani said.
The actress added: "I especially love Indian classical dance, but I haven't had the chance to pursue it yet. My love for dance was the first indication that I wanted to be an actor."
Growing up in Kolkata, Sayantani's school often performed Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's dance dramas, which combined dance with acting and emotions.
"I was very active in my school's cultural programs, and that's when I realised I was inclined towards the creative field. Even though I haven't formally learned dance, I love it. I just need to turn on some music, and I'm ready to dance," the actress said.
"Over the years, the industry has recognised and respected my dancing skills. Whenever people talk about actresses who can dance well, my name definitely pops up on the list," she added.
Talking about the dance sequence in her show, the actress said: "I was very excited when a dance sequence came up, because Vindhya, my character, isn't someone you'd expect to see dancing, so this sequence was special."
"We were doing a Maha episode where a tandav was required. In this scene, she was addressing certain energies and had to awaken a spirit trapped in an old sandook."
Sayantani said: "She was performing a tandav to bring these dark forces to life. The best part was that I got to choreograph it. My producers knew I was a good dancer and gave me the opportunity to choreograph the dance."
The actress shared that tandav requires a lot of energy, as it involves being super energetic to summon dark forces, and she put her heart and soul into it.
"The response has been amazing, and all the hard work paid off. Another fun part of performing a tandav is balancing physical movements with emotions. Physically, you need to be very aggressive and full of energy, but it's also important to convey emotions. Tandav is meant to be fiery and feisty, so that energy needs to be reflected in your eyes too," she said.
The actress said that dance combines physical movements with facial expressions.
"It's about how your face and eyes convey the story. So, it was crucial to keep that balance where my body is doing its part, putting in all the energy."
"But the eyes also have that fire in them, then anger in them. So I think that was very fun. That was challenging and fun as an actor to create that balance," she added.