Snippets of Information
Dance in old films
* 14 Dec 2021
Guru Gopinath was a famous court dancer of the Travancore state.
K. Subrahmaniam invited Guru Gopinath and his wife and dancer Thankamani
to act in ‘Prahlada'.
It was the debut film of Guru Gopinath and Thankamani Gopinath.
The episode from Vishnu Purana, a holy text of Hindus, tells the story
of Prahlada (Kumari Lakshmi) who worships Lord Vishnu against the orders
of his father Hiranyakashipu (Guru Gopinath). All the attempts of the demon king and his wife Kayadhu (Thankamani Gopinath)
to change their son's mind fail. The Lord comes to Prahlada's rescue
every time he is tortured by Hiranyakashipu. And then, finally, the Lord
appears as Narasimha (a man-lion avatar) to kill Hiranyakashipu.
The main attraction of the film was a dance by Guru Gopinath as Yama, the god of death. Apart from acting as Hiranyakashipu, the dance sequences of the dancer and his wife stood out.
Source: Prahlada (1941) by B. Vijayakumar, The Hindu, April 10, 2011
Guru Gopinath danced as the demon Bhasmasur and Guru Gopalakrishnan as Lord Shiva in the movie Mayabazar (1957).
Source: cinemanrityagharana. blogspot.com
Guru Gopinath acted as Jesus Christ in the movie Jeevitha Nauka, danced as
Bhasmasura in Maya Bazaar and as Poothana in the film Bhakta Kuchela and
was the dance director of Jeevitha Nauka, Visappinte Vili, Athmasakhi, Thozhilali, Maya Bazaar and Kumara Sambhavam.
Source: An imaginary interview with Guru Gopinath by Tapati Chowdhurie, narthaki.com
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