Noted dancer-choreographer Amala Shankar dies at age 101
Amala Shankar, one of the most popular dancer passed away on Friday morning at the age of 101 in Kolkata. Counted amongst one of the path-breakers for Indian women, Amala was known for her efforts in making the Indian fusion dance popular all across the world. Born in the year 1919 at Jessore, which is now in Bangladesh, as Amala Nandy, she was interested in the field of arts and music at an early age. She even received the 'Banga Vibhushan,' an award for contributions to the field of art by the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government in 2011. She was the wife of late dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar, mother of late musician Ananda Shankar and acclaimed actress Mamata Shankar. Not only this, she was even the sister-in-law of musician and composer Ravi Shankar, who left the world in the year 2012.
The news of her demise was shared by her grand-daughter Sreenanda Shankar, who tweeted, "Today my thamma (grandmother) left us at the age of 101. We just celebrated her birthday last month (June). Feeling so restless that there is no flight from Mumbai to Kolkata. Heartbroken. May her soul rest in peace. This is the end of an era. Love you Thamma. Thank you for everything."
Sharing a video on Instagram, the granddaughter wrote, "Kalapana the film by Late Uday Shankar was first published in the year 1948 and in terms of section 26 of the Copyright Act, 1957, the copyright of the film has expired on the expiry of 60 years from first publication of the film. Copyright in the film thus expired in 2009. Since the copyright is expired anyone is well entitled to screen the film in any media as they deem fit and proper."
Amala, who was 11-years-old and Uday met in the year 1931 at the International Colonial Exhibition in Paris. She joined his dance troupe and started performing across the world. Amala also played the lead role in 'Kalpana' (1948) — a film by Uday Shankar about a young dancer’s dreams of setting up a dance academy. She also graced the red carpet at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
May her soul rest in peace.
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