Aditi Rao Hydari’s Sensational ‘Gaja Gamini’ Walk: Link to Kama Sutra, Feminist Reading, & An Ode To Art
Heeramandi on Netflix: A snippet of Aditi Rao Hydari’s sensational dance act from ‘Saiyaan Hatto Jaao’ song of Heeramandi has been making waves on social media. The ‘Gaja Gamini’ walk of Hydari in the song is deemed as a peak act of seduction, finding its trail back to Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra. Hydari has been applauded for enchanting her audience across the gender spectrum. The singsong of applause is not the only emotion evoked by this poignant display of the art of seduction. The Gaja Gamini walk has found its place in feminist reinterpretation discussions and social media accounts highlighting the significance of her unabashed display of the natural curves of women’s bodies.
Gaja Gamini Walk links to Kamasutra
Aditi Rao Hydari essays the role of Bibbojan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’, a tawaif or courtesan with sensational popularity and who has many connoisseurs and patrons. She is viewed as a voluptuous yet graceful woman versed in the many arts of seduction.
Kamasutra is the greatest book ever written on the art of seduction and has inspired numerous forms of art beyond writing. The captivating viral ‘gaja gamini’ walk is one of the many forms a woman can take in her pursuit of seduction ranging from Padmini, Mohini, Damini, and more.
The way Heeramandi has now become all about @aditiraohydari's gaja gamini walk is nothing less than iconic!pic.twitter.com/NhA0VWRegh
The alluring Gaja Gamini walk is symbolic of the female elephant’s walk who is viewed as a creature of “unrestrained raw sexual power”. The walk epitomizes a voluptuous but graceful attempt at seduction and seduces it in Heeramandi.
Feminist take on the Gaja Gamini walk
Seeping its way into the conversation of body positivity and women’s agency with their bodies, the Gaja Gamini walk has become more than just a viral sensation.
Aditi’s vivid display of her back rolls and curves on screen has inspired women to own their authentic selves. It evoked courage to open up about the popular representation of ‘desired women’ plagued by unrealistic beauty and body standards. With Hydari’s walk, the audience feels seen, inspired, and encouraged to flaunt their natural curves, lending agency to body and decision-making. It further stimulates the conversation over the acceptance of conventional beauty and women of desire in cinema.
Hydari being a woman of conventional beauty is being applauded for her courage display igniting inspiration but it also begs the question that if a non-conventional, non-actor woman enacts the same, will she be supported similarly?
An ode of art
Many have connected Hydari’s walk to that of iconic Madhubala in the ‘Mohe panghat Pe’ song in the film Mughal-E-Azam (1960), and Madhuri Dixit’s in Gaja Gamini (2000) by M.F. Hussian.
Aditi 's walk in heeramandi is getting viral.
— Anita (@gangubaiii) May 15, 2024
Here is the Gaj gamini walk over the years.
In frame :
Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam
Madhuri Dixit in Gaja gamini
Post credit : cinematiccircle IG#Heeramandi pic.twitter.com/7NFpsCqheA
This legendary piece of art from the book of art has transcended its appeal across generations, and cultures to further inspire other forms of art.
