Happy Birthday Prabhu Deva: 12 songs that prove he is India’s best dancer

Prabhu Deva is magnificent when he is on stage, dancing. The way he moves, the energy that he pumps into his performance, a live one at that, is infectious. He may be set to direct Dabangg 3 for Salman Khan, joining hands with Bhaijaan of Bollywood, but first and foremost, he is a dancer. Son of Sundaram master who is a National Award winning choreographer in south Indian film industry, Prabhu Deva began working as a child and we saw him first in a song in Mani Ratnam’s Mouna Ragam. He then moved up to being a background dancer before starting to choreograph for movies.

His first film was Kamal Haasan’s Vetri Vizha when he was just a 15-year-old. After that, he has choreographed for more than 100 films including those he directed. He is known to infuse the style of Michael Jackson with a local flavour, and it has today become something of his signature style. His footwork is an art in itself that has been captured beautifully in many songs, especially in Kadhalan and Mr Romeo. His inspiration, when he started out, was the King of Pop and this is evident in songs such as Muqala Muqabala and Que Sera Sera. As the dancer-choregrapher-actor-director-producer turns 45, here is a look at 10 outstanding dance numbers choreographed by him.

Kadhalan (1994)*

An iconic album featuring songs like Urvasi Urvasi and Muqala Muqabala where choreography spoke volumes and special effects set a standard, my favourite song happens to be Pettawrap. Even today, when ones listens to this song, there is no way you would not want to try doing Prabhu Deva’s moves.

Vennilave Vennilave - Minsara Kanavu (1997)

Prabhu Deva won the National Award for choreography for this film. He also plays the lead role in this film that also stars Arvind Swami and Kajol. Directed by Rajiv Menon, this song is poetry in motion.

Kaasumela - Kaathala Kaathala (1998)

This song features both Kamal Haasan and Prabhu Deva who collaborated for the film Kaathala Kaathala. The fun number has two amazing dancers collaborating to come up with a hilarious routine.

Que Sera Sera – Pukar (2000)

How can a song that has Madhuri Dixit Nene and Prabhu Deva dancing together not make it to the list? The choreography was unique and unmatched at the time when the film came out. This was also the beginning of craze for contemporary dance pieces.

Chenna Pattanam / Kaanale Miya Miya Alli Thandha Vaanam (2001)

Two songs from this film have excellent choreography. One features Kalyani as child artiste who shares screen space with Prabhu Deva and the two have a great rapport. It is a hilarious song that talks about how money is important in Chennai.

Kannale Miya Miya

This one has Prabhu Deva and Laila doing a duet and it is very retro in treatment. The song became quite popular for Laila’s outstanding expressions.

Chadrulo Unde - Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005)

A song to introduce the characteristics of the leading lady is common. However, with his choreography, Prabhu Deva narrated a tale of a girl from a village travelling to the city for her friend’s wedding and a boy living abroad coming to India for his cousin’s wedding. The previous year, he choreographed Main Aisa Kyun Hoon, featuring Hrithik Roshan in Lakshya, which still comes second to this song.

Pallakivai – Pournami (2006)

In this song featuring Prabhas and Charmy, we see a girl break into a dance under the influence of a drug. It is more like she is drunk and she discovers dancing at this time. The humour, the slice of life like choreography that Prabhu Deva is associated with comes across quite beautifully in this song. Prabhu Deva also directed this film, which starred Trisha in the lead role.

Title song - Engeyum Kadhal (2011)

This song choreographed by Deva has a breezy feel to it. It is more about choreography of shots and montages of people in love mixed in with a move or two by Deva. The song about love will have you entranced by a 360 degree shot of Deva dancing on the streets of Paris.

Go Go Govinda – Oh My God (2012)

This song has a lot of footwork and floor work that Prabhu Deva is popular for. Performing alongside him is Sonakshi Sinha for a special song in Akshay Kumar’s Oh My God.

Saree ke fall sa – R Rajkumar (2013)

This song became an instant him among audience the year it released, especially for the dance steps that look easy to emulate. But, if one were to notice the details in the song, the expressions are the highlight. The backup dancers do the same movement throughout the song and you wouldn’t notice this the first time.

Author tweets @Priyanka_S_MCC
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