Remembering Pandit Birju Maharaj: Here’s Some Unknown Facts About The Kathak Legend

The living legend of Kathak, Birju Maharaj, who had been diagnosed with kidney disease a few days ago and put on dialysis, died at his home on Sunday. He was 83.

His grandson Swaransh Mishra shared the news of his demise on social media and wrote, “Very sad to announce… Pt birju maharaj ji.. my nana ji is no more. With profound grief and sorrow we inform the sad and untimely demise of our most beloved member of the family Pt Birju Maharaj ji. 

Here are some unknown facts about the dance legend:

Started dancing at the age of seven:

Pandit Birju Maharaj started performing at the tender age of just seven  and went on to mentor dance form at the age of 13 only. He was a descendant of the legendary Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, including his uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj.

Singing:
Apart from his dancing skills, Pandit ji also had an interest for singing and even composed music and songs for movies like ‘Shatranj ke Khilari’.According to reports, Thumri, Dadra, Bhajan, and Ghazals were considered as his strength.

Love for Hollywood:
Pandit Birju Maharaj enjoyed watching Hollywood flicks and Jackie Chan and Sylvester Stallone were among his favourite actors, reportedly.

Love for cars:
Not many of us know this, but the late legend also had a keen interest in cars? According to reports, he had once revealed that if not for his dance skills, he would have surely been a mechanic.

Bollywood connection:
Did you know Birju Maharaj had choreographed two famous tracks of contemporary cinema — ‘Kahe Chhed Mohe’, filmed on Madhuri Dixit in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Devdas’ (2002), and ‘Mohe Rang Do Laal’, which was picturised on Deepika Padukone, in ‘Bajirao Mastani’ (2015).

Maharaj ji had huge contribution to the film industry besides Devdas and Bajirao Mastani,he choreographed for Kamal Hassan’s ‘Vishwaroopam’, ‘Dedh Ishqiya’ and also won the National Film Award in 2012.

Describing him as an “incredible talent” and an “inspiration for many”, Bhansali Productions said in its heartfelt tribute: “We’d just like to say, thank you, for being a part of our journey and for allowing us to be a small part of yours. It goes without saying but dancing to Kathak will never be the same again.”