Meet the uber-cool couple in the Vodafone ads

Bharatanatyam legends Shanta and V P Dhananjayan believe in breaking moulds

For the past five decades at Chennai’s Bharat Kalanjali, one of India’s premier bastions for Bharatanatyam, mornings have begun with the lighting of the lamp. This is invariably followed by the sound of feet moving to the nattuvangam, simply described as a stick-like instrument intended to monitor beats. 

The senior-most dancers and gurus here also double as the academy’s founder-directors, Shanta and Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan. Made formidable by their talent and dedication to the arts, as the “dancing couple of India” the Dhananjayans are highly revered in the arduous world of classical arts. 

The seamless agility and nimbleness of their