Roshan Kumari | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 December 1937[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Classical dancer Actor Choreographer |
| Known for | Kathak |
| Parent | Zohrabai Ambalewali |
| Awards | Padma Shri Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Nritya Shiromani Nritya Vilas Vishwa Unnyyan Samsad Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar Kathak Kendra Man Patra All India Bhuwalka Award Hanumant Award Hafiz Ali Khan Award Latest |
Roshan Kumari Fakir Mohammad is an Indian classical dancer, actor and choreographer, considered by many as one of the foremost exponents of the Indian classical dance form ofKathak.[2][3] She follows theJaipur Gharana and is the founder ofNritya Kala Kendra, Mumbai, an academy promoting Kathak.[4] A recipient of theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1975,[5] she received the fourth highest Indian civilian honour ofPadma Shri from theGovernment of India in 1984.[6]
Roshan Kumari was born on Christmas Eve (year of birth uncertain) atAmbala in the north Indian state ofHaryana (erstwhilePunjab) to Choudhury Fakir Mohammed, a noted Tabla player andZohrabai Ambalewali, renowned classical and playback singer.[7] She learnt the basics of Kathak from K. S. Moray and continued her studies at Maharaj Bindaddin School of Kathak, Mumbai under Sunder Prasad ji and learnt the jaipur gharana.[8] Later, she also trained under Ghulam Hussain Khan and Hanuman Prasad and learntBharat Natyam from Govindraj Pillai and Mahalingam Pilai.
Roshan Kumari has performed in many places in India including a special performance at theRashtrapathi Bhavan.[3] She has also performed in front of personalities such asJawaharlal Nehru,Indira Gandhi,Nikita Khrushchev,Milton Obote,Hussein of Jordan and the King of Nepal.[7] In 1971, she founded theNritya Kala Kendra, atBandra inMumbai, where she tutors several students.[3] Mukta Joshi,Aditi Bhagwat,[9] Nandita Puri, Nigaar Bano, Shelina Virani, Sehajpreet Singh, Himani, Sangeeta,[10] Anonna Guha[11] and Shailla Aurora[12] are some of her notable students. Roshan Kumari Ji, who remains unmarried, lives in Mumbai.
In 1953,Bimal Roy invited Kumari to perform a Kathak number in his film,Parineeta. The next year, she performed inWaris ofNitin Bose and aHindi /Urdu bilingual,Mirza Ghalib, directed bySohrab Modi. Her next appearance was inBasant Bahar, a 1956 film byRaja Nawathe.Satyajit Ray, the renowned Indian filmmaker used a dance sequence performed by her in his 1958 film,Jalsaghar. In 1970,Films Division of theGovernment of India released a documentary on the history and practice ofKathak, which features performances by notable Kathak exponents likeDamayanti Joshi,Uma Sharma, Sudarshan Dheer andShambhu Maharaj, besides Roshan Kumari.[13] Later she also worked as a choreographer in Hindi feature films such asGopi,Lekin... (1990),Chaitali (1975) andSardari Begum (1996).
Kumari received theNritya Shiromani title from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti at the Twelfth All India Music Conference of 1963[3] and theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1976.[5] A year later, Sur Singer Samsad awarded her theNritya Vilas honour.[7] TheGovernment of India honoured her with the civilian award ofPadma Shri in 1984[6] and theGovernment of Bengal awarded her theVishwa Unnyyan Samsad in 1989.[3] She received theMaharashtra Gaurav Puraskar from theGovernment of Maharashtra in 1990 and theMan Patra honour from Kathak Kendra,Jaipur in 1993.[3] Kumari, an Emeritus fellow of theGovernment of India, is also a recipient of theAll India Bhuwalka Award (2005) and theHanumant Award (2008).[3]
