The entertainment, the film and the fashion world, of late, have witnessed a number of young and promising faces who have shown immense potential to make this showbiz industry a vibrant one, provided they are given the opportunity to do so. One such face is of the simple, innocent, lovely with a completely sober and sweet image. You will instantly take a liking for her the moment you see her on screen. Yes, she is none other than the beautiful, ravishing, stunning and one of the finest dancers and actresses of our Assamese film industry, the multi-talented Meghranjani Medhi. It may be worth mentioning that apart from being a well known Kathak dancer Meghranjani is also a brilliant actress.
Meghranjani is a very popular name in the film industry. She started her career with the video film ‘Lakhimi’, making a huge impact with her superb acting in that film. Thereafter offers started pouring in and soon she became a much sought after name in the industry. Then she acted in ‘Abhimani Mon’, ‘Purnima’, ‘Janmoni’ (Vol-I & II), ‘Rumal’, ‘Kasijun’ and soon proved her worth as an accomplished actress by her awesome and exceptional performance in these films. Her performances were highly appreciated by her fans and critics alike. She also made her mark in a mega-serial titled ‘Tumi Dusokut Kajol Lole’, which became a hit and was well appreciated by viewers. Meghranjani has also been a part of many TV commercials like Steel n style by TATA, Mahindra Generator, Jet Wings, Spinner 10000, Edu-fest etc. She is an active participant in the fashion world too as she has been a show stopper for many fashion events. She has featured in many magazines as a cover model and also worked as a model for many well-known designers. She recently made her debut on the silver screen with her first full length feature film titled ‘Anuradha’ which was released in 2015. She also bagged the Nirode Choudhury Best Actress Award for her performance in this film.
Meghranjani is a young and promising artist of Kathak dance. It was on August 16, 2009 at Rabindra Bhawan when at a cultural evening, ‘Kathak Sandhya’, she showed her dancing skills and prowess. She woowed the audiences by presenting a series of Kathak and other classical dance items with exceptional ease and effort. She was among the list of persons selected for the award of Scholarships under the scheme of ‘Scholarship to Young Artistes in Different Cultural Fields’ for the year 2008-09 under the field ‘Dance and Music’ and ‘Kathak Dance’ as her sub-field. Daughter of Marami Medhi, a noted exponent of Kathak, and Joyprakash Medhi, a well-known vocalist, composer and music director of Assam, Meghranjani started learning kathak at the tender age of 3 years under the guidance of her mother. She has attended many workshops conducted by the great maestro of Kathak dance, Pandit Birju Maharaj.
Meghranjani has passed Nritya Nipun in Kathak dance from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapith, Lucknow in the year 2009 with flying colours by securing 1st division. Meghranjani was also awarded scholarship from the Deptt of Culture, and Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), Govt. of India. Indian Council for Cultural Relation (ICCR) selected Meghranjani as a panel artist for Kathak in 2012. She has given performances all over India along with her mother and also performed her solo Kathak recital in several prestigious programmes in and outside Assam, including Sadhana Festival of Dance, New Delhi, Kathak Mahotsava, 2013 organized by Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, Pragjyoti International Dance Festival 2013, Guwahati, Vasantotsav 2011 & 2012 New Delhi, Panch Tattwa Festival, Mumbai, Parampara Festival of Dance & Music 2013, Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra, Guwahati, Pragjyoti International Dance Festival, 2014, World Dance Day, Chennai 2014, Sangeet Sankalpa, Khajuraho Festival of Dances 2014, organized by Ustad Alauddin Khan Sangeet Academy & Madhaya Pradesh Sanskriti Parishad, among others.
Meghranjani has also performed in Canada on June 2011 at Harbourfront Centre’s Fleck Dance Theatre, Toronto as part of, and commissioned by Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity. Her mesmerizing performance as Mumtaz in a dance theatre titled ‘Taj’ held at the Toronto Festival of Arts was highly acclaimed by the audiences. The other noted artistes in this production include film, television and theatre star Kabir Bedi and acclaimed Canadian actress Lisa Ray. The dance drama was choreographed by legendary Guru Kumudini Lakhia.
Meghranjani has bagged the Gold Medal in the Inter College Youth Festival of Guwahati University for three consecutive years – 2007, 2008 and 2009. She has recently toured Egypt, Israel, Palestine and UAE under the banner of ICCR, Govt. of India. She was also named as the ‘Dancing Queen of Assam’ by a web portal. She received the Nebcus Media Award as the Best Actress for the video film ‘Jaanmoni’ in 2010-2011.
She has performed in the Gana Sabha Mahostav in Chennai on the occasion of World Dance Day in 2014. In the same year, Meghranjani Medhi toured Egypt, Israel, Palestine and UAE, performing in a series of programmes as the sponsored artiste of ICCR, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt of India. Her enchanting performances were highly appreciated by the audiences. In February 2014, Meghranjani performed in the popular Khajurahu Festival of Dance.
She was also a part of the ‘Kala Ghoda Festival’ held on February 10, 2015. She has also performed in the Gudiya Sambrahma, a Bangalore Temple Festival. Recently she also performed in Chennai on the occasion of World Dance Day.
This article is written by Prantik Deka, a columnist and cine journalist.
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