Pandit Birju Maharaj won National Award for Kamal Hassan's Vishwaroopam

As the legendary Kathak dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj passed away today, his work for Kamal Hassan's multilingual spy-thriller Vishwaroopam still stays in the hearts of Kamal fans and Netizens. Little did we know that he has won the National Award for Best Choreography for the song 'Unni Kaaanadu Naan' from the film.

"I got to know that I won the National Award through calls I have been receiving since evening. I never had any expectations but now that I have got them, I would like to thank my parents for the same. I had least expectations because I only believe in my work," Pandit Birju Maharaj said.

Read: The legendary Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj who popularised dance-dramas

In an interview, he said that Kamal Hassan even though was a highly talented dancer, did a lot of hard work for getting every step right and he was the only male actor whom he has choreographed for.

The song 'Unnai Kaanadhu Naan' from Vishwaroopam appears at the beginning of the film shows Kamal (Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri) who disguises as a Kathak teacher named Vishwanath and is shown teaching Kathak to a group of female dancers. The song is about a guy searching for his lover and it is similar to a part of Mahabharata, where Arjuna disguises as a dance teacher for princess Uttara.

In a Bollywood dance show, Dance 3+, Pandit Birju Maharaj appeared as a guest and an exclusive tribute was performed for him from a song "Mohe Rang Do" from Bajirao Mastani and in the video released by Sony Music India as 'Making of Unnai Kaanadu Naan' we see the BTS of how the legendary Kathak danced helped and trained Kamal Haasan and the group of girls to perform the Kathak steps on the screen.

Also read: Legendary Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj dies at 83