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Journalism of Courage
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’ released on Netflix on May 1. The web series took the internet by storm for depicting cultural heritage through its dance forms, costumes and music. Among myriad clips from the show that are doing rounds on social media, Aditi Rao Hydari’s jaw-dropping ‘Gaja Gamini’ walk has somehow made its way through pop culture as Gen Zs and millennials continue to gush over it.
Hydari, who played Bibbojaan in the series, performs an immaculate dance to the song ‘Saiyaan Hatto Jaao’. During the dance sequence, the actor performs a ‘Gaja Gamini’ walk, which is now popular as the ‘Swan Walk’.
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According to Kamasutra, elephants are symbols of “unrestrained raw sexual power”. It is believed that a female elephant or hastini is the lustiest of women and vulgar in her carriage.
The ‘Gaja Gamini’ walk also has a mention in the Mahabharata. Queens like Draupadi were addressed as Mada-gaja-gamini, women who walked like cow-elephants in a rut. In simpler words, the walk is synonymous with a large voluptuous but graceful woman. The walk of an elephant by swinging the hips has inspired several artists and poets, including M F Husain.
In 1967, legendary late painter M F Husain turned into a filmmaker with ‘Through the Eyes of a Painter’. However, it was with the 2000 ‘Gaja Gamini’ starring Madhuri Dixit that Husain established himself as a filmmaker. Based on his series of paintings ‘Gajgamini’, the film depicted all the stages of a woman’s life. The elusive walk has also been used to address Shakuntala, Sangeeta, Mona Lisa and others.
“A couple of years ago, when I was in hospital, I thought of making a film on Madhuri Dixit. I have been painting her in different ways, trying to depict her as the essence of Indian womanhood and of the many manifestations of womanhood. So, rather than painting her, I thought let me try doing the same thing in some other medium,” Husain had said in an interview.
However, Madhuri Dixit was not the first actor to perform the seductive walk. ‘Gaja Gamini’ was earlier performed by late actor Madhubala in ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ in the song ‘Mohe Panghat Pe’.
Soon after ‘Heeramandi’ released, cinema aficionados swamped social media with a discussion around the ‘Gaja Gamini’ walk. From content creators recreating Aditi Rao Hydari’s walk to them hailing her performance, the ‘Gaja Gamini’ walk made its way to pop culture.
Reacting to the viral clip, a user wrote, “Even i am mesmerized by aditi rao gajgamini walk and i am a woman ,it’s just so seductive.” Another user wrote, “Oh this song is utter perfection. That gajgamini walk, curves on her back and that last play with dupatta. I think she just gave her madhubala biopic audition.”
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Starring Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Segal and Aditi Rao Hydari, ‘Heeramandi’ is now streaming on Netflix.
