vyjayantimala's multi-hued life unveiled in her Memoir, 'BONDING'

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New Delhi, (UNI) Way back in 1939, she was just six and a half, when she performed before the Pope. Defying age, time and space, vyjayantimala Bali is still dancing in the new millennium! She is etched in people's psyche as the first actress from the South to make it in the Mumbai film industry, having worked with top ranking actors, like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, and Sunil Dutt, thus earning a tremendous fan following for her portrayals and graceful dance movements.

She gained renown as the 'southern sensation' with 'twinkle toes' -- for never had an actress from the South made it as a national star, more so for her considerable legacy to Indian cinema as an accomplished classical Bharatanatyam dancer.

In fact, it was vyjayantimala's creative dancing talent that propelled her to dizzy heights with films, like 'Nagin', 'Madhumati', 'Devdas', 'Sadhna', 'Gunga Jumna', 'Sangam' and 'Amrapali'.

"Dance has been the most crucial component in my evolving as an actress. My dance has lived on. Perhaps that's why acting came naturally to me, for in my solo Bharatanatyam performances I portrayed different characters in quick succession. So, I did not have any problem emoting," she says.

For vyjayantimala herself, everything begins and ends with dance which has been the raison d'etre of her very existence.

"For me, dancing came much before films happened. In fact, though my dance added to my performance on the screen, it wasn't the other way round," reveals vyjayantimala in 'BONDING'., her Memoir, to be released on August 29 in the Capital by the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, and in Chennai on September 3, by the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Surjit Singh Barnala.

vyjayantimala happens to be the First State Artiste of Tamil Nadu. Being brought out by Stellar Publishers, 'BONDING'.captures different facets of the multi-hued life of the dancer-actor-golfer-politician.

The book details how this timeless beauty, who personified grace in the film industry, weathered many a storm that life posed to her at every stage - and that has earned her a rightful place in the cultural history of India and the film industry as a legend. It reveals how the dancer-actor has, over the last six decades, used her dancing prowess to take traditional Indian heritage and goodwill to distant lands in different parts of the world that brought her accolades galore.

She performed at the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre in Paris for UNESCO, London's Scala Theatre and Moscow Theatre in 1959. The crowning glory for her was becoming the first Indian dancer to give a Bharatanatyam recital at the United Nation's General Assembly in 1969, to commemorate the 21st Anniversary of the Universal declaration of Human Rights.

"Receiving a standing ovation from the delegates of over120 countries was the most ecstatic moment of my life. I still feel the performance was unmatched - my best ever," the actress reminisces.

She became the first Indian artiste to dance at the International Opera House in Sydney, besides performing recitals at the Adelaide Festival, Royal Opera Rallst Festival, Stockholm and Holland Festival at Rotterdam. In fact, critics and connoisseurs alike applauded her for reviving ancient and forgotten Temple Dance
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"In the course of my efforts to revive the temple dance forms, I interacted extensively with old dance masters and old families in villages and stumbled upon many a forgotten dance styles. It was a rewarding research, giving shape and meaning to a forgotten manuscript and making it come alive", says the actress.