A Tale Of Dauntless Determination
Sudha Chandran's life story is a book familiar to most well-informed Indians and the images that colour its leaves are almost part of popular folk lore : the defiant amputee who danced in perfect rhythm on a prosthetic foot; Nache Mayuri, the role that granted her permanent starhood ; Ramola of the gargantuan bindis and chandelier earrings, the very incarnation of the fiendish mom-in-law. But the most touching image will be the horror on the face of a 17 year old as she listened to her doctor snuffing out her ambitions with the doomsday ultimatum "leg or life".
Sudha started to dance almost as soon as she could toddle. The charming young dancer who combined grace, balance, poise, style and rhythm in Bharatanatyam showed such rare promise, it didn't need a crystal ball to foretell her future. At 16 she had accumulated enough mastery over its intricacies, to be giving public performances. |
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More than thousand Malayalam films to her credit in the past twenty years, but this Tamil-turned-Malayalee choreographer still miss the glare of publicity. Be it the classically trained dancer-actor Vineeth or the hardworking ideal superstar Mohanlal, she had them both boogie to her rhythmic movements.
Shanti Master entered the silver-screen industry at the age of fourteen as a dancer. She got this break with Sundaran Master (Prabhudeva’s father) and from there on she went on performing in a number of films. Her dance performances got her spotted by many of the leading directors. At the age of eighteen, when she was already an assistant choreographer, she got the first chance to choreograph a song in Pandiaraajan’s ‘Aan Paavam’. |
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