‘Astad Deboo wore stardom as gracefully as his costume’

Astad Deboo with Manipuri dancers in Rhythm Divine. Pic/Ritam Banerjee

On Bombay
(From the chapter Childhood, Youth and Family in Jamshedpur)
After completing high school at Loyola in Jamshedpur, Astad went to Bombay for university studies in 1965. Although both parents encouraged Astad to pursue his love of dance, his father insisted that he first complete his Bachelor of Commerce degree at R A Poddar College, Bombay, before following his dream. After all, at that time as today, parents regarded a college degree as a safety net for someone seeking a career as an artist. Astad admitted that he was not rebellious - that was [his sister] Gulshan's domain, as I learned through my interviews with both sisters - so he followed his father's advice, even though he found studying commerce boring.

…[Nephew] Danesh was struck by Astad's habit of walking long distances in Bombay, such as from Shapur Baug to Bandra - a distance of 13 kilometres. He recalled that once when Astad was returning from a walk, he was bathed in sweat! "Did you run?" asked Danesh. "No, I just walked," responded Astad. This inspired Danesh to take up the practice of such long walks in the city. Danesh found slow walks helped him in his visual arts work. Now an environmental scientist in Australia, Danesh told me over a WhatsApp call how difficult it was for him not to be in Bombay with his family when Astad passed away.

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On food
(From the chapter Jamshedpur: The Deboos' Beloved City)
Astad and his siblings loved Jamshedpur, the small town in eastern India where they spent their early years. For further university studies, the Deboos, like other families, sent their children to urban centres such as Bombay and Delhi. Their father, like many of their neighbours and friends who came from across India - Bengalis, Gujaratis, Tamils - worked for the Tata Group of companies.

…The Deboo family's Jamshedpur address was 10 Central Avenue. Gulshan recalled that there were no walls between houses and they could easily enter the next plot or house by simply crossing a hedge. The neighbours in several houses had kids the same age as the Deboos, in particular a Bengali family with nine children. The Deboo kids were often there, playing and enjoying Bengali cuisine, especially Astad, who was a foodie from a young age. Both sisters recalled their parents being strict about finishing everything on their plate during meals; if the food was not to Astad's liking, he cycled off to one of the neighbours' homes. His family joked that Astad must be visiting his Bengali sasural (in-laws)!

Deboo and renowned puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee (in mask) perform together in their first puppet-dance collaboration titled Friends. Pic Courtesy/The Deboo Family; (right) Deboo's flowing angarkha became an integral part of his performance. Pic/Getty Images

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(From the chapter Astad's Gift of Friendship)
Bombay was Astad's base. He had told me in an interview that he was very grateful to have a loving home to return to from wherever his travels took him and, of course, to savour a delicious home-cooked meal. Astad loved food as much as he loved his friends. He enjoyed a happy alliance between friendship and food throughout his life. A foodie from youth, he delighted in sampling different cuisines in India and abroad during his travels. He also shared his love of Parsee cuisine with friends abroad - akoori (eggs with onions, tomatoes, fresh coriander and spices), curry and rice and on birthdays, celebratory sev (vermicelli fried in ghee with sugar) eaten with sweetened dahi. Dhanshak is the pièce de resistance of Parsee cuisine that Astad revelled in cooking and teaching many friends to cook! During his travels, Astad loved to invite folks to his hosts' homes and cook meals for them as a way of giving back the generosity he enjoyed. Astad's friends will recall how, over the last few months of his life, Gulshan and Astad shared on a WhatsApp group chat what he ate for breakfast or lunch. Gulshan often had a tough time keeping Astad-the-foodie satisfied!

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On dance
(From the chapter Childhood, Youth and Family in Jamshedpur)
Whenever Astad was in Bombay, on a break from his hectic travels, he loved to go to discotheques to meet friends and dance; in fact, it was amid the lights and music in discos that he discovered he could twirl for a long time! On one occasion in the 1970s, on a dance floor, Astad accidentally stomped on his foot, remembered Jehangir Patel, the editor of the Bombay-based Parsiana magazine that carries news and features about Parsees in India and in the diaspora. When Jehangir turned around to see who the offending person was, Astad at once bowed and apologised. Jehangir did not know Astad then, but the bow gave the impression of someone who had spent time in Japan. Jehangir could not recall if Astad introduced himself. But when he read about him later, he recognised him from that disco encounter!

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On Martha Graham
(From the chapter Astad The Ardent Traveller)
From the time that Astad first left India, he wished to get to the US to study with [American dancer and choreographer] Martha Graham since her deeply emotional movement style fascinated him. But a visa eluded him. In any case, when he could learn this style at the London School of Contemporary Dance, he did not feel comfortable with it; his own style followed a different dance history rooted in his training in classical Kathak and later Kathakali. His dance connected intuitively and incorporated Indian aesthetics of mudras and rasas. His spirit resonated with the Indian concept of the Navarasas (nine primary emotions) that featured prominently in his later choreography.

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On his signature costume
(From the chapter Collaborations with Costume Designers and Photographers)
Astad's dance performances were acclaimed for visual design that included lighting, staging, use of space and his choice of costumes. During his early choreography in the 1970s and 1980s, when enamoured of modern dance with its emphasis on the body, he wore leotards and unitards. From the 1990s onwards, Astad's costume changed to Indian-style long angarkhas, both in sober and bold colours, with churidar-style trousers. Astad was a fashionable man with a riveting stage presence - at times he wore dhotis, short coats and other outfits that created different silhouettes on stage. Astad's collaborations with costume designers have played a major role in his stage presence. His flowing angarkha became an integral part of his performance, often serving as his stage partner as he gracefully twirled, holding one end of it while executing his iconic chakkars.

…The fame of Astad's costumes reached France where a museum, the Centre National du Costume de Scene, which holds a collection of 20,000 theatrical costumes from around the world, was interested in getting a few pieces of his costumes for their collection, reminded Ramaa Bharadvaj. Ramaa added a loving personal note: "Such was his celebrity. But he wore that stardom as lightly and as gracefully as his stage costume - slip on and slip off! And this is what endeared him to all those who got to know him" (int., August 2021).

Excerpted with permission from Astad Deboo: An Icon of Contemporary Indian Dance by Ketu H Katrak, Seagull Books