Gitanjali Lal – Renowned Kathak Dancer

Gitanjali Lal is a famous Kathak dancer and choreographer. Kathak artist Pandit Devi Lal of Jaipur Gharana was her husband, who passed away in 1976. She played the female lead in the first Kashmiri color film, Shayar-e-Kashmir Mahjur, opposite Parikshit Sahni in the late 1960s. She also won best actress for the same. But she completely switched from films to dance forms. She has served on expert committees for government organisations and currently serves as the director of Devi Durga Kathak Samsthan in New Delhi.

Gitanjali Lal – Renowned Kathak Dancer from Baroda

Gitanjali Lal hails from a musical family of Baroda. Her father, Rajnikant Desai, was a vocalist and a disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khan. Her father, who initially worked as a college professor in Mumbai was later posted in Srinagar as Principal of the Institute of Music and Fine Arts. The family shifted to Kashmir. Her father, a patron of the arts, encouraged her artistic skills and also taught her classical music. As a dancer, she gave her first public performance at the age of 9. She graduated in music, and also learnt Santoor and Bharatnatyam.

As a solo artist, she gave her first performance at New Delhi in 1970. The siblings Devi Lal and Durga Lal also performed in the same concert, and it was the first time she met them. Three years later, she married Pandit Devi Lal. The couple later taught at Kathak Kendra, along with their performances.

Gitanjali Lal – Some interesting and lesser-known facts

1. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was among the audience when she gave her first public performance at the age of 9.

2. Zakir Hussain, as a boy, played tabla for Gitanjali’s first public performance.

3. She became a widow in 1976 at a young age. 

4. Her husband, Pandit Devi Lal, was also a renowned Kathak dancer.

5. She has trained in dance forms from Devi Lal and Gopi Krishna.