Gopi Krishna Biography
Gopi Krishna, a great personality in Kathak and famous as an Indian dancer, actor and choreographer related to the Banaras Gharana in Varanasi. He has performed his awesome performances which are marked by the unique interpretation. Gopi Krishna was born at 22nd August in the year 1935 in the Calcutta and died at 18th February in the year 1994 because of the heart attack in the Bombay.
He got the Kathak in his generation and learned the Kathak by his grandfather named, the late Pandit Sukhdev Maharaj. Sukhdev Maharaj was also a Kathak maestro of the Banaras Gharana. He was the master of a variety of Kathak style dance. Gopi Krishna was the son of Tara Devi. Tara Devi was also a renowned singer and the eldest daughter of the Sukhdev Maharaj. He has completed his study in the Bombay.
He was naturally interested in the Kathak and has started dancing at his four. He has started getting training from his maternal grandfather in the Calcutta at his 11. He was inspired much from the Sukhdev Maharaj. He was practicing very hard while learning the Kathak from his grandfather as he was of strict discipline in nature. He also got training from the Shambhu Maharaj.
His Guru, named Mahalingam Pillai and Govind Raj Pillai (from the Sri Raj Rajeshwari Bharat Natya Kala Mandir School) taught him the Bharat Natyam. He has performed his classical dance in many Indian films. The film which he has performed first time was the ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje’ by V. Shantaram. He got the fame and recognition by working in the film industry. Most of the films like Mehbooba, Dastaan, Umrao Jaan, Mughal e Azam, Amrapaali and The Perfect Murder have been choreographed by him. Instead of performing dance, he was the dance director of the film as well.
He has performed in the abroad such as East Africa and some other Western countries. Once he has given the sparkling performance at the three percussion instruments called Tabla, Chanda and Pakhawaj. He has provided the Kathak training to many Indian actresses like Madhubala, Vaijatimala, Mumtaz, Sandhya, Zeba Bakhtiyar, Manisha Koirala, Raveena Tandon, Baby Naaz, Mala Sinha, Anita Raj, Padma Khanna, Twinkle Khanna, Asha Parekh, Dimple Kapadia, Reena Roy, Somi Ali, Shilpa Shirodkar and many more.
Awards and Recognitions
He became the recipient of the many awards and honors at his 32. At his 15, he was honored by the title of Natraj (means the King of Dancers) at the All-Bengal Music Conference in the year 1966. He has also been honored by the title Nritya Samrat at the Prayag Sangit Samiti Allahabad. He was honored by the title Kala Prapurna through the Local Arts Association of the Hyderabad in the year 1967. He has been awarded with the Padma Shri as well.
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