Haleem Khan – Kuchipudi dancer known for female impersonation of characters
Haleem Khan is a Kuchipudi dancer from Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, best known for female impersonation. He specializes in Rupanurupam, where he portrays female characters on stage and appears in woman costumes. Till now Haleem has given more than 800 dance performances apart from numerous workshops. He also plays brief roles on Telugu screen since 2011 – Nuvvila, Action 3D and Saradaga Ammayitho are some of his noted film roles. He is now a well-known cultural figure in Hyderabad circle.
Haleem Khan was born into a conservative Muslim family of Ongole in Prakasam district. Soon after completing 10th grade, he had an intense ambition to learn Kuchipudi. As he was fully aware that his family won’t give permission to study the art, he studied it without their knowledge. His talent was first spotted by Kaza Venkata Subramanyam, who taught him the art form. Initially he used stage name of ‘Hari’ and specialized on female characters, which later earned him acclaim and many honours. Today he is one of the leading classical dancers of the country, known for donning female characters on stage. Interestingly he can also perform Siva’s Thandavam with ease.
Haleem Khan – Some interesting and less-known facts
1. He played the noted role of Shailu gay in Nuvvila. It marked the screen debut of both Haleem Khan and Vijay Deverakonda in supporting roles. The film also marked Bollywood actress Yami Gautam’s Telugu debut.
2. He drew inspirations from old movies and watched various classical art forms on TV, and gradually made up his mind to learn the art himself.
3. He quit his job as an IT recruiter in 2009 to follow his true passion.
4. He is now working on an instructional DVD, which can help kids to learn Kuchipudi themselves.
5. A German writer penned a novel based on this dancer. The book titled ‘To Dance or Not to Dance, That is Not the Question’ was released in 2017.
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