Gurukul Dubai is staging a Bollywood-themed play this weekend, marking 100 years of Indian cinema

The musical Naach, being staged by Gurukul Dubai this weekend, merges classical and contemporary dance in a tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema.

Pali Chandra, left, the kathak danseuse and artistic director, leads a rehearsal for the forthcoming Bollywood show Naach at Gurukul dance studio in Dubai. Sarah Dea / The National

Bollywood, with its glamorous sets, larger-than-life stories and vibrant song-and-dance sequences, celebrated its centenary last year. Now, the UAE-based dance company Gurukul Dubai plans to recreate the magic of 100 years of Hindi cinema through Naach, a production taking to the stage this weekend. The one-and-half-hour show, which follows the journey of lovers through the history of India, has been choreographed by Pali Chandra, the danseuse and artistic director of Gurukul.

The quintessential love story

Chandra, who has performed internationally and teaches kathak, an Indian classical dance form, collaborated with other contemporary and classical choreographers to put together an elaborate musical that tells the story of Jia and Raj.

“I wanted to bring art and commercial aspects of cinema together,” says Chandra, who became the youngest recipient of the Lachhu Maharaj Award for artists in 1988.

“I wanted to merge classical dance and Bollywood: the girl and boy story; the east and west story,” she says.

In the musical, Jia is a young girl who takes pride in her culture, political history and heritage. She helps Raj, a non-resident Indian dance instructor, to connect with his roots. The story moves forward with Jia portraying actresses over the decades – Nadhiya, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Sandhya and Priyanka Chopra – through choreography that fuses classical forms with hip-hop, western contemporary and belly dancing.

Synchronising steps

Sixty-two dancers in India were selected through a countrywide casting call in December. Chandra says she did not want to restrict it to a kathak presentation.

“We wanted more people to connect with what we do,” she says. “This is a work of fusion. My forte is classical dance and I wanted to collaborate with others who are masters of their dance styles. I did not want random movements, but wanted the technique to be precise. Or else it would end up being a confusion and not fusion.”

She studied different dance styles, assisted by the Bharathnatyam experts Jatin and Shruti Subramanian, and the Dubai-based dance director Kalathilakam Vineetha Mohan.

Dubai star has talent

The Dubai-based Hitesh Rajani, who has featured on Indian reality TV shows such as Dance India Dance, plays Raj, and says he brings “modern style” to the mix.

“I am more into lyrical contemporary and hip-hop dance,” he says. “It is very different from Bollywood and classical, which the other dancers on the show are trained in.”

The self-taught choreographer says he created his own moves for the show with little direction.

“But there is this small part where I am doing kathak and that was the toughest,” says the 25-year-old Rajani. Chandra admits kathak will be the main form in the production. “Kathak is all about storytelling. And if you are talking about film, you are telling a story,” she says. “We will show the different techniques, including abhinaya [art of expression] and jugalbandi [duet].”

• Naach will be staged at Ductac’s Centrepoint Theatre, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, at 6pm and 8.30pm on Thursday. Tickets are priced from Dh250; call 04 341 4777 to book. Visit www.ductac.org or email [e-mail] for more information