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Dandia: India, a country known for its unity in diversity, where people from different caste, color, creed, religion not only live together, also shares the sorrows and joys together. In the western India, during Navratras, Dandia, a Gujrati group dance form where men and women participate in pairs. The dancers hold decorated bamboo sticks called dandias in their hands. At the end of these “dandias”, tiny bells or ghungroos are tied, which create a jingling sound when the sticks are struck with each other. Dandia is a millennia-old celebration of the victory of good over evil. A nine-day celebration of music and dance, it is an occasion for the community to get together, bond, and celebrate. For some it is an important occasion to raise awareness and funds for underprivileged children in India. People dressed in the traditional ghagra, choli, churidars, bandhani dupattas together with dazzling jewelry and gear into the traditional dance mode. From religious affair to social gathering to fun outing the festival has varied facets to it. Coming to the song and dance scene, the music is not just restricted to a Gujarati folk tune of a dholida or a pankhida these days. The music has gone much more contemporary from the traditional tunes, to suit the taste of the present generation. So today, the first thing that gets to your eardrums after the ceremonial Aarti is done with is a Kaanta Lagaa, a Chadti Jawani, a Chail-Chabila Babu or Ek Pardesi. Talking about the festival’s portrayal in Hindi cinema, Bollywood has consistently shared a give and take relationship with Navratras. The more songs Bollywood has given to play in the festival, the more inspiration the festival has given Bollywood to churn out new songs and sequences. The oldest memory of the festival in Bollywood goes down to actress Nutan, set in the Garbha mode to the tune of Mein to bhool chali babul ka desh from Saraswati Chandra (1968). This one still remains to be one of the most popular tracks among the old crowd in the festival circuit. On the very similar tune came out the devotional song “Mein to aarti utaru re” from the 1975 film Jai Santoshi Maa. Next to follow were Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha swaying their dandia sticks to the tune of “Sabse Bada Tera Naam” in Manmohan Desai’s Suhaag (1979). This Laxmikant Pyarelal number proved out to be an instant [...]