PL RAAJ
READY FOR A COMEBACK

Dance and songs have been an integral part of Indian movies since its inception. And its importance continues to this day, when it still plays a huge role in the success of films. Thus, the choreographer is a key man in any film unit. Technique and technology may have changed over the years but a good dance master, who creates great steps to go with the music and the mood of the songs, is a sought-after man on the sets. Yet, the audience often appreciates the dances in films, and ignores the choreographer. But neither the film industry nor the artistes can afford to ignore the contributions of the choreographers...

Devraaj Peter Lewis aka PL Raaj, is one man who can easily be called a master at his craft in every respect. No doubt the dance master who has almost completed 50 years in films, and worked in about 600 films, making 176 actresses and 110 actors dance to this steps, was felicitated for his glorious contribution. He was adorned with the Dada Saheb Phalke Trust Award recently, for his life time achievement, which will remain unparalleled for many more years to come.

The laurel is nothing new for PL Raaj. In fact, he was honoured with the Pandit Nehru award way back in 1965 for his exemplary work in Chitralekha. Incidentally, he is also the father of Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins fame.

Talking to this burly dance master is a treat, as he has many interesting anecdotes to recount. He has the enviable distinction of choreographing the dances featuring the likes of Nargis, Meena Kumari and Madhubala in yesteryears and Twinkle Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and Ronit Roy in recent times. Taking you down memory lane, he says, “I was born in a well to do family, and came to Bombay in 1949 at the tender age of 15 from Coimbatore, where my father worked as an engineer in the carpentry division of Indian Airlines. Finally, in 1951, I joined a dance group of famed choreographer Krishan Kumar as a dancer.”

He still gets goosebumps when talking of his first chance to work with rubber-girl Cuckoo and funster Agha. Judging his dedication, he was promoted to assistant choreographer. But the association didn’t last long as after the death of Krishan Kumar he started assisting Surya Kumar.

But the biggest break for the creative choreographer came in 1957 when Subodh Mukherjee asked him to direct the dances of his Dev Anand-Mala Sinha starrer, Love Marriage, independently. He has never looked back since. He hit bull’s eye with the Shammi Kapoor-starrer, Junglee in 1960. The film was a major success in his career which catapulted him to the league of the best choreographers of the era. The song from the film, Chhaahe mujhe koi junglee kahe became a rage and PL Raaj also became a favourite of Shammi Kapoor’s a dancing sensation of the 60s, known for his unique style and mannerisms. This was followed by Mere Ghar Ke Saamne in 1960 and Professor and Shikari in 1962 starring Shammi Kapoor.

The other major films that one can recollect over the years which featured PL Raaj’s dances include Bluff Master, Jaanwar, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay, Shaan, Sargam, Don, Shakti, Shalimar and Pukar.
With over 50 years experience in the field, it was imperative that we asked him about the visible changes that have come about in choreography. “Movements have changed over the years and the dances, today, are just jugglery and nothing else. Do we get to see the emotions or the lyp-sinc of the artistes any more? It’s because the dance director has to justify the location and the 100 other dancers circling the lead players. The long shots have taken away the charm of the dance numbers. In addition to this, the dance directors today seldom ever get the music track in advance. In our time, we discussed the dance with the music directors and singers. It used to be a united effort. That has been the basic difference. I feel the artistes these days are very weak, and few have a real feel for dance. This wasn’t the case in those days. The movements have become faster now, thanks to the cuts and intercuts. Despite the lack in technology, we managed to come up with a great of innovations in our time. I was the first to come up with the prism effect, which was widely appreciated,” says PL Raaj.

Do the choreographers still get the same amount of respect they used to a few decades ago? “I don’t think so. Neither for that matter, does any other technician. In our times, dance directors were widely respected, as it’s never been easy to make anyone dance. It’s become a rat race and everyone wants to get to the top at the cost of others,” avers the dance master.

An interesting episode in his career was when Jai Santoshi Maa, the biggest grosser of the early 70s, was being made. He was approached to do the choreography of the film. But due to his preoccupation with other films, he couldn’t accommodate the dates. But after 26 years, producer Mohan Kumar Rathod who is now remaking the film, has approached PL Raaj once again. And the veteran has proved that old age has not caught up with him.
PL Raaj who has many Gujarati and Telugu films to his credit feels the best phase of his career was between 1962 to 1980. He has trained many dance directors who work independently these days. Even at this age he regularly trains new dancers at his dance classes near Vile Parle Railway station three days a week. In fact, Saroj Khan, Habiba Rehman, Aruna, Shalini, Sheela R Hameeda, Kamal, Kiran Kumar and Chinoo are some of the big names who’ve been trained by him.

When asked whether he’s still open to film offers, he says, “My services are available for the industry right till I breathe my last. After all, I’m the best of them all, am I not?”No doubt about that.

Padmaraj Nair

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