It’s All in the Eyes
By Elizabeth Fields
When I was watching the dance sequences of DDLJ, I noticed that in several dances Simran would look at the camera and rapidly blink her eyes. In the first dance sequence of the movie, Simran sings of the man of her dreams. Within the first several seconds of her dance, Simran winks one eye at the camera (8:36). Only a few seconds later, she blinks both eyes at the camera and subtly moves her neck from side to side (8:49). These slight gestures made a big impact as the camera was focused on only her face. She seems to be almost flirting with the audience. I wanted to know more about this focus on the eye movements as it seems very unique to Indian dance. I found several videos and a couple websites that explain this attention to eye movement but no source as to the origins behind the quick blinking. Below is a site that I found helpful in learning about the traditional Indian dance eye movements.
http://onlinebharatanatyam.com/2010/06/25/eye-movements-or-drishthi-bheda/
Additionally, in the second half of the movie, Simran’s father, Babuji, keeps his eyes wide for a prolonged period of time when he is disgusted over Simran’s love for Raj (3:06:48). His eyes are unblinking as Simran begs him to let her run away with Raj and board the train. It is as if Babuji is in a trance. Again, this attention to the eye movement helps add to the overall emotion of the scene. I appreciate this detailed acting.
Filed by efields at January 30th, 2013 under Uncategorized