Learnt from him like Eklavya: Haasan condoles demise of Birju Maharaj
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A still from the making of the song ‘Unnai Kaanadhu Naan’, shared by Haasan

'Learnt from him like Eklavya': Haasan condoles demise of Birju Maharaj


Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Monday (January 17) condoled the death of legendary Kathak exponent Birju Maharaj with whom he worked in his 2013 film Vishwaroopam.

Hailing the dancer as a peerless Kathak maestro, Haasan in a tweet said he learnt many things from the Birju Maharaj during the shooting of their film and since been observing and learning from him from far away like Ekalavya.

The actor shared a photo from the making of the film’s song ‘Unnai Kaanadhu Naan’, which has Birju Maharaj, Haasan, co-actor Andrea and the film’s music composer Shankar Mahadevan in one frame. The dance sequence for the song, based in Kathak, was choreographed by Birju Maharaj. A video on the making of the song on YouTube shows the Kathak virtuoso walking Haasan and his team of dancers through tricky steps and mudras (expressions) in sync with the exquisite soundtrack of the Shankar-Ehsan-Loy trio.


Pandit dedicated his life for the sake of music and dance, Haasan said and conveyed his grief and condolences over the maestro’s death.

Birju Maharaj, who took the traditional Indian dance form to the world, died at his Delhi home in the early hours of Monday after suffering a heart attack. He was 83.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of the dancer.

“Deeply pained by the demise of Pandit Birju Maharaj, who took India’s dance tradition to the global platform. His demise is a loss to the entire world of art. I offer my condolences to his bereaved family and fans at this time of loss. Om Shanti,” the prime minister tweeted in Hindi.

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