Learnt 'Like Ekalavya' — Kamal Haasan Pays Emotional Tribute To Pandit Birju Maharaj

A recipient of the country's second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, Birju Maharaj ji was also a lifelong Kathak guru as well as a talented Hindustani classical singer and percussionist.

Pandit Birju Maharaj during a dance class | Photo: Twitter

Chennai: Kamal Haasan on Monday paid a heart-warming tribute to one of India's greatest dance legends, Pandit Birju Maharaj, who passed away late on Sunday at the age of 83.

Taking to Twitter, the actor posted a picture of Maharaj ji training him and actress Andrea for 'Unnai Kaanaadhu...', the famous song from 'Vishwaroopam', the first line of which when translated, reads, "I am not myself today as a result of being unable to see you."

The dance sequence won Maharaj the National Film Award for choreography in 2012.

Switching over to Tamil, Kamal wrote in his tweet: "The incomparable dance legend Pandit Birju Maharaj has passed away. Like an Ekalavya, I learnt a lot from him by observing him from a distance for many years. I learnt a lot from close quarters for 'Vishwaroopam'."

The actor concluded his tweet with the lines of the song for which he trained under Maharaj ji, saying: "A legend who dedicated his life to music and dance, 'I am not myself today as a result of being unable to see you'."

The actor, in one of his speeches earlier, too had talked about the experience of training under Pandit Birju Maharaj.

He had then said, "My experience was exhilarating. Andrea dances with me in the song and she knows what a great teacher Birju Maharaj saab is."

The living legend of Kathak, Birju Maharaj, who had been diagnosed with kidney disease a few days ago and put on dialysis, died at his home on Sunday.

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