Kathak Documentary Project

PRESERVING STORIES. INSPIRING GENERATIONS.

Support I-RADHA’s Kathak Documentary Film Project

“To be human is, in itself, to be a Kathak—a storyteller.”

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At I-RADHA – Indian Rhythms, Arts & Dances Heritage Academy, we believe that art is more than performance. It is a living archive—a way through which stories, memories, wisdom, values, and human experiences travel from one generation to another.

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I-RADHA is embarking on an ambitious documentary film project exploring Kathak not simply as an Indian classical dance form, but as a profound and universal language of storytelling.

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At the heart of the film is the extraordinary storytelling tradition of the Lucknow Gharana and the artistic and spiritual legacy of Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj ji.

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But the film asks a question that reaches far beyond Kathak:

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What makes us human beings’ storytellers?

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We experience.
We remember.
We give meaning to what happened.
We share it with another person.

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THE VISION

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The word Kathak is traditionally associated with Katha—story.

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“Katha kahe so Kathak” — the one who tells a story is a Kathak.

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This idea forms the philosophical foundation of our film.

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Through interviews, original Kathak choreography, dramatic visual interpretation, animation, archival material, music, personal memories, and cinematic storytelling, the documentary will explore how human experiences become memories, memories become stories, and stories travel across generations.

 

Kathak becomes our lens through which we explore something universal:

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We do not simply tell stories. We live them.

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The film will explore three interconnected worlds:

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The Power of Storytelling

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Kathak as a Storytelling Tradition

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The Stories We Inherit and Pass On

 

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                                                        ABOUT THE FILMMAKER / ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

                                                        Kiran Chouhan

                                                        Director • Artistic Director • Choreographer • Kathak Artist

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For Kiran Chouhan, this film is more than a documentary—it is a deeply personal journey rooted in her own experience as a Kathak artist, teacher, storyteller, and disciple of the legendary Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj ji.

A graduate of Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, Kiran began her Kathak training under Smt. Reba Vidyarthi and later had the privilege of learning from Pandit Birju Maharaj ji in the Lucknow Gharana tradition. She received Gandabandhan from Maharaj ji, a traditional Guru–Shishya bond that holds profound significance in the Indian classical arts.

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During her years of learning, Kiran discovered that Maharaj ji's teachings extended far beyond movement, rhythm, and technique. His stories about his family, ancestors, art, nature, human behavior, and everyday life opened another dimension of Kathak for her, one in which dance became a way of observing, understanding, and telling the human story.

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Those experiences planted the seed for this film.

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Over time, Kiran began to see Kathak not simply as a classical dance form, but as a profound philosophy of storytelling.

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“To be human is, in itself, to be a Kathak—a storyteller.”

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We experience life. We remember it. We give our experiences meaning. We share them with others. And eventually, we ourselves become part of the stories that another generation will tell.

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It is this idea that forms the creative and philosophical heart of the documentary.

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As Director and Artistic Director, Kiran will shape the film's overall creative vision and narrative. As Dance Director and Choreographer, she will develop original Kathak sequences that transform selected memories, philosophical ideas, and oral histories into movement—allowing dance itself to become one of the film's storytellers.

 

Through filming across Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Allahabad (Prayagraj), and Chicago, Kiran hopes to bring together generations of voices—from senior disciples and members of Maharaj ji's family and artistic lineage to younger Kathak artists carrying the tradition forward today.

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As the Founder and Artistic Director of I-RADHA – Indian Rhythms, Arts & Dances Heritage Academy, Kiran has dedicated her work to preserving, teaching, and presenting Indian classical arts while helping younger generations understand the values and deeper meaning behind the traditions they inherit.

 

She is also a multidisciplinary visual artist and the creator of Manifestism Art®, an artistic philosophy centered on visualization, intention, belief, and the relationship between the stories we hold within ourselves and the lives we create.

 

This multidisciplinary background in Kathak, choreography, theatre, visual art, and storytelling will shape the visual language of the film—bringing together documentary interviews, dance, music, animation, archival material, and artistic interpretation.

 

For Kiran, however, the purpose of the film reaches beyond preserving the legacy of the past.

 

It is about carrying that legacy forward.

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DIRECTOR'S VISION

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“I want this film to introduce Kathak to the world not only as a beautiful Indian classical dance form, but as a universal language of human storytelling.

 

My journey with Maharaj ji taught me that a story can live through words, rhythm, expression, silence, movement—and sometimes simply through the way one human being remembers another.

 

Through this film, I hope to preserve precious memories and stories connected with Maharaj ji and the Lucknow Gharana before they are lost, while asking a much larger question: Why do human beings tell stories?

 

Perhaps because our experiences eventually end, but through stories, something of us continues.

 

That is why I believe—to be human is, in itself, to be a Kathak, a storyteller.

 

Through this film, I hope we can listen to the stories entrusted to us, preserve them with care, and carry them forward for generations yet to come.

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— Kiran Chouhan
Director & Artistic Director
Founder, I-RADHA

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A JOURNEY ACROSS INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES

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To tell this story authentically, I-RADHA plans to undertake an extensive filming journey across Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Allahabad (Prayagraj), India, along with additional filming in Chicago, USA.

These locations are not simply backdrops.

They connect us with the people, memories, artistic communities, cultural environments, and histories that shaped the story of Kathak.

The production will bring together senior disciples of Pandit Birju Maharaj ji, members of his family and artistic lineage, younger-generation Kathak artists, scholars, musicians, and other important voices.

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WHY THIS FILM MATTERS NOW

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We live in an extraordinary technological age. We can record almost everything—our photographs, performances, conversations, voices, and memories.

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And yet, recording information is not the same as preserving wisdom.

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Traditional art forms can survive technically while slowly losing the stories, philosophies, human relationships, and lived experiences that gave birth to them.

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This project seeks to preserve more than choreography.

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We want to preserve voices.

We want to preserve memories.

We want to preserve stories that may disappear if they are not recorded now.

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And we want younger generations—whether they are Indian or not, whether they know Kathak or have never seen it before—to discover something of themselves within these stories.

 

Because storytelling belongs to every culture.

 

And storytelling belongs to every human being.

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OUR GOAL: TAKING KATHAK TO A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

I-RADHA's vision is to create a professionally produced film suitable for submission to international film festivals, followed by opportunities for cultural screenings, educational presentations, arts organizations, universities, community programs, and other appropriate platforms.

 

Our goal is not simply to document Kathak.

 

Our goal is to make audiences feel why Kathak matters.

We want someone who has never heard the word “Kathak” to enter the film through a universal human idea, story, and leave understanding why this centuries-old art form continues to speak to the human experience.

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WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

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Producing a film across multiple cities and two countries is an ambitious undertaking.

 

Filming in Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Allahabad (Prayagraj), and Chicago requires travel, local transportation, professional production support, equipment, locations, artist coordination, archival research, music, choreography, animation, editing, post-production, sound design, color finishing, subtitles, festival preparation, and distribution.

 

As a nonprofit arts organization, I-RADHA cannot undertake a project of this scale alone.

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We need our community to become part of the story.

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Every contribution, large or small, moves this film one step closer to the screen.

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