January 6, 2011 (Sampurn Wire): Times have changed. Not only in terms of cinema and the way it used to be projected but also the dance forms that were once connected to cinema have taken a complete u turn as far as the classical dance forms are concerned.

There were days, when Bollywood films had the most beautiful heroines performing on great musical renditions and the basic dance forms were all classical oriented which left the audiences simply spellbound. The likes of Vyjantimala, Hema Malini, and Rekha are still remembered for their excellent classical dancing skills and that genre of cinema has simply vanished into oblivion these days.

These are the times of fast food, fast modes of travelling and even faster dancing techniques. The likes of salsa, hip- hop, hoping -popin, modern contemporary are some of the dance techniques that have taken up the Bollywood industry by storm. Almost all top actors and actresses have to be good in these dance forms in order to fit the bill of a leading star.

Thus in times of such energetic street dancing becoming a rage, there is very little scope left for the very graceful classical dancing to prove its attractions on the modern audiences mind set. With the world moving at such a fast pace, people have lost the patience to sit and enjoy the very classic dance forms like the Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kuchchipudi, Manipuri and Kathak dance forms which were the rich cultural inheritance that were gifted by our ancestors to us.

Bollywood certainly has the power to change trends, thus with the hope that these dance forms would be revived someday in cinema to gain popularity with the common man. Lets just go with the flow and enjoy these modern forms of dance till the fever lasts.

--Sampurn Wire