Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is known for creating a wonderful theatrical experience is gearing up for the release of one of his most ambitious projects — Padmavati. Despite the journey being a controversial one for Bhansali and his team, the buzz around the period drama is expectedly high. Adding to this hype is the new song from the film, titled Ghoomar.
Much like how it is in most Bhansali films, Padmavati also has that one song which is said to be magnificent and ethereally beautiful. Picturised on Deepika Padukone, Ghoomar is vibrant and stands true to its traditional folk dance form. Even though it takes years to learn this dance form, considering the intricate technicalities, Deepika had to master it in a few days. Recalling the day she shot for the song, the actress quipped:
The shooting of the film began with this song, and I’ll never forget that day. I remember approaching my mark for the first shot. It was almost as if Padmavati’s soul had entered my body. I could feel her presence; and, in fact, I still do. It’s one of those rare moments in an actor’s life where it’s going to take a very long time before it actually leaves the system.
Here’s the song
Before launching the much-anticipated song, the team of the film took to social media to reveal some deets about Ghoomar. Here’s what they posted:
Here’s everything you need to know about this beautiful dance form.
What is Ghoomar?
Ghoomar is a traditional dance form performed by women in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The women, dressed up in their best traditional attires, preferably a ghaghra-choli and a ghoonghat (veil), twirl around singing traditional folk songs. The word has its origin from a Hindi word, Ghoomna which means to twirl. The basic choreography of this dance form includes regular pirouetting. However, with the global recognition of Ghoomar, a lot of other inclusions have been made to make it look more impressive.
Essentially, the dance is performed on the folk songs popular among various Rajasthani communities. Some of them are as follows:
Chirmi Mhari Chirmali
Aave Hichki
Mhari Ghoomar
Jawai Ji Pawna
Taara Ri Chundadi
Mharo Gorband Nakhralo
However, the most traditional of them are Gorband, Podina, Rumal and Mor Bole Re.
While Padmavati might be the first major commercial film to be showing Ghoomar in a scintillating way, Hindi cinema has tried to do justice in showing the dance time and again. In fact, one of Kareena Kapoor starrer film, Chup Chup Ke also had a song titled Ghoomar Re. Check this out:
Another traditional Ghoomar song, Aave Hitchki got a makeover in 1972 Bollywood film, Pinjra, directed by V Shantaram. The song featured dancer and actress Sandhya Shantaram and Shriram Lagoo in the lead. It was sung by Lata Mangeshkar.
Another film, Zubeida, starring Karisma Kapoor and Rekha also had a sequence where Ghoomar was performed in a traditional way.
Ghoomar is a mark of celebration in the Rajasthani community and therefore, apart from being performed at various festivals and wedding, it is also performed at regular public events in the community.
In Padmavati, Deepika learned the Ghoomar from popular folk dancer Jyothi D Tommaar who is also the Assistant Director and Trustee of Gangaur Ghoomar Dance Academy. The song, however, has been choreographed by Kruti Mahesh Midya, a former participant at Dance India Dance. Kruti had also choreographed the Deewani Mastani song from Bajirao Mastani. She can be seen teaching Deepika in the following video:
