Concept Idea – GitacharYa
Written by: Satrakai
Think of dance in South Indian Cinema, the first name that comes to mind is Tollywood Mega Star Chiranjeevi. Of course, nowadays almost every top star actors dance very well but the father of all these guys is that Chiru!
Chiranjeevi and His Iconic Veena Step
Arguably, he’s the finest dancer actor in Indian Cinema whose grace captured the imagination of millions of fans. Though it was Akkineni Nageshwara Rao who introduced dance movements or so-called steps in Telugu movies, it was with Chiranjeevi that dancing has become an essential qualification to become a star.
He brought speed into everything. Was one of the earliest to introduce disco dance, break dance and he’s even capable of traditional styles when needed. Shiva Tandavam is one of the examples for this. He is one of the few actors who is a perfect choice for playing Nataraja.
But there are a couple of songs in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s – Nadaka Kalisina Navaratri in Hitler and Dayi Dayi Daamma in Indra. The dance movements in these songs became iconic. Especially the Veena step in Indra has become a pop cultural phenomenon.
Chiranjeevi Veena Step In Indra (Song is not available for embedding)
It was imitated by numerous artists and fans. Still it holds its magic. His grace, poise, and the nonchalant manner he displays his swag all made the dance sequence an all-timer. We better talk about Chiranjeevi and his iconic dances later in another article and let’s confine us to the topic.
Enter Superstar Krishna
But this Veena step is not the first one in Telugu Cinema. It may sound surprising to fans, it was the evergreen superstar Krishna who preceded Chiranjeevi. As the film was a big flop, the dance wasn’t popular. And the truth that fans don’t go to theatres to Superstar Krishna dance. It was his charm, glamour, and the dialogue delivery and the energy of yesteryear. His films generally offer a different texture to the audience.
Actually, Krishna had come up, with reverse of Veena step. Unlike Chiranjeevi who moves up with each passing beat, Krishna moves down. From standing position to sitting on the toes. The film was Jagadekaveerudu – a mid-1990s fantasy action film. Check at 4:00 mark in the video.
Magic of Padmanabham
But, superstar Krishna was preceded by – lo behold! One more big surprise – Padmanabham.
Yes! The comedian, character actor, lead actor and a filmmaker (yes Padmanabham was versatile) B Padmanabham.
In one of his breakthrough roles as Sadajapa in the classic blockbuster Pathala Bhairavi, he dances to the song Lalaloo lalaloo. If we observe closely, the steps resemble the famous Veena dance sequence. Check the entire song. It’s a pure gold of classic item number.
This article is just for fun and as we know, Mega Star Chiranjeevi more than excelled. We’re just talking about resemblance of the step.
