Esha Deol played the character which Hema Malini has been portraying on stage for more than two decades.
After making a comeback in Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s short feature Cakewalk, the Dhoom actress made her comeback on stage recently with her solo Odissi performance based on Geet Govind at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi. “Dance is my first love, as I have been performing on stage since I was 6,”says Esha Deol Takhtani. Esha geared up to debut in a ballet, where is played the role of Sita in Ramayan. She played the role which her mother Hema Malini used to play. Produced under the banner of Natya Vihar Kala Kendra, this was Esha’s first foray into ballet which happened on 24th March 2018.
“I was excited and nervous at the same time, It’s a wonderful feeling to be back on stage !after becoming a mother to my darling daughter Radhya I had taken a break during n post pregnancy …it’s with sheer focus n determination and the grace of god that I performed as Sita in our Ramayan ballet for the first time ! I feel motherhood is a beautiful new chapter in my life and I’m looking forward to many such beautiful experiences! I feel Being a mother completes a woman and we woman gain a certain amazing sort of magical confidence within us ….when we see our babies smiling at us we can achieve anything!” She also mentioned “Now that I am slowly getting back into movies and dance, mom (Hema) suggested that I should try something new. She came up with this idea of me playing Sita. I readily agreed, because I am a bhakt of Hanuman ji and I feel that Sita was a powerful lady. It will be interesting to portray her character on stage,”. Esha is a trained Odissi dancer, and has been performing solo dance recitals more than a decade.
Incidentally, Hema Malini launched her dance ballet troupe with Ramayan in mid 1980’s, and thereafter she went on producing many ballets like Meera, Savitri, Durga, Mahalaxmi, Radha Krishna and Draupadi. Being one of the most celebrated Bharatnatyam dancer, Hema Malini continued her stage performance along with her movie and political commitments. So how does it feel for Hema Malini to see her daughter playing the same role which she has been portraying for more than two decades? “ Yes! The prog was a success! Esha played the role of Sita & I sat in the audience watching her – for the 1st time I was on the other side of the stage! A bit hard to adjust but was happy too because it was my daughter who was doing my role! ,” says Hema Malini in one of her tweets after the program.
