
2 minute read
Nagabharana and his wife Nalini are special invitees at IAAFA’s school holiday program
from 2012-08 Sydney (1)
by Indian Link
The Nagabharanas are felicitated
Nathan Rees took to the microphone to say how much he enjoyed himself. The guest appearance of Ian McCann, President of the Wenty Leagues Club, was welcomed equally.
BY SHERYL DIXIT
It is not often that children get to do a performing arts course in the school holidays with a famous Indian film-maker.
30 lucky kids honed their stage skills in the July winter holidays with Kannada and Telugu filmmaker TS Nagabharana and his choreographer wife Nalini.
The program was initiated by the Sydney-based Indian Australian Arts and Film Association (IAAFA), which has been organising kids’ workshops for a few years now.
Mr and Mrs Nagabharana travelled to Australia for three days, simply to conduct this workshop at which children were taught acting, singing, dancing and drama skills, in addition to confidence techniques and memory enhancement exercises.
Nagabharana is a film, TV and theatre personality who has many awards at the state and national levels, and has even presented at the Karlovy Vary Festival. His work, which has received commercial success as well as critical acclaim, is rich in Indian folklore and concern for children and women. He has worked extensively with children, having produced three children’s films.
At his recent Sydney workshop, the children attending were divided into two different groups, one for dancing and the other for acting, depending on their inherent skills.
The workshop concluded with a stage show on July 15, held at the prestigious Wenty Leagues Club at Wentworthville. It was a first for the club, to host an Indian event.
Nearly 400 people attended this event which unusually, fused Bollywood, Irish and Indian classical dance in a creative and thoroughly appealing presentation.
Children in the age-range of six to fourteen, under the guidance of the Nagabharanas, put up a fine performance even after their short coaching program.
They performed a rendition of the Kannada song Harona Baa, about the fun and freedom in the life of a bird. This wonderful song and dance number was choreographed by Nalini.
Next came The Hat Seller and the Monkeys, directed by Nagabharana. The young aspiring actors put up an enjoyable performance, ably encouraged by their parents, family and other members of the audience.

Seven-year-old Vidushi Trivedi and her sister Siona, have attended the IAAFA holiday program for the second year in a row, and were thrilled to be a part of the performance. “We had a great time and learned so much about acting, dancing and singing,” she said. Garima, the girls’ mum was equally pleased with the program and the performance. “Not just my girls, but I too, along with other parents were very impressed with the workshop and the event. The children did a great job and they
“Our thanks to the Nagabharanas and IAAFA volunteers who made this happen,” she added.
Earlier in the evening, there was a traditional start to the proceedings, with the formal lighting of the lamp and a bharatanatyam prayer dance. This was followed by a variety of dances by the Irish Dance group choreographed by Kristen, and the Bollywood Dance group choreographed by Maxine.
One of the highlights was a performance to the famous Kannada language song Huttidare Kannadanadlli, made famous by the late Dr Raj Kumar from the movie Akasmika. This Irish, Bollywood and Sandalwood fusion dance was performed by the Irish and Bollywood dance groups, and although the performers were not familiar with the language, they enacted it extremely well, to the surprise and uproarious applause of the audience.
Other performances included those by Vijay Jogia, Sudarshan and Mr and Mrs Nagabharana singing theatrical Indian songs, each of which presented a new and unique approach to singing and dancing, making them all memorable.
Local MP for Toongabbie Mr