Kruti Mahesh Midya is an Indian dancer and choreographer known for her work in Hindi Cinema. She is a recipient of the
National Film Award for Best Choreography
The National Film Award for Best Choreography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Sil ...
for the song "
Ghoomar
Ghoomar or ghumar is a traditional folk dance of Rajasthan. It was the Bhil tribe who performed it to worship Goddess Saraswati which was later embraced by Rajputs. The dance is chiefly performed by veiled women who wear flowing dresses called ...
" from ''
Padmaavat
''Padmaavat'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language historical drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Based on the epic poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, it stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Sinhalese-born Rajput ...
'' (2018),
together with Jyoti D.Tommar, and has received the
Filmfare Award for Best Choreography for "Dholida" from ''
Gangubai Kathiawadi
''Gangubai Kathiawadi'' is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language biographical crime drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and produced by Bhansali and Jayantilal Gada. Based on the book '' Mafia Queens of Mumbai'' by S. Hussain Zaidi, it tells ...
'' (2022). Her best works are in ''
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
''Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani'' (), also abbreviated as ''YJHD'', is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Ayan Mukerji, written by Mukerji and Hussain Dalal, and produced by Karan Johar under Dharma Produc ...
'' (2013), ''
ABCD 2
''Disney's ABCD 2'', also known as ''Any Body Can Dance 2'', is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed and choreographed by Remo D'Souza and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under Walt Disney Pictures. A stand-alone sequel to the 2013 ...
'' (2013), ''
Bajirao Mastani
''Bajirao Mastani'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language Epic film, epic historical film, historical tragedy film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who co-produced it with Eros International and composed its Bajirao Mastani (soundtrack), soundtrack ...
'' (2015), ''
A Flying Jatt
''A Flying Jatt'' is a 2016 Indian superhero comedy film co-written and directed by Remo D'Souza and produced under the banner of Balaji Motion Pictures. It features Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nathan Jones in the lead roles. ''A F ...
'' (2016), ''
Race 3
''Race 3 ''is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language neo-noir action crime film directed by Remo D'Souza and Written by Kiran Kotrial and Shiraz Ahmed, produced under Tips Industries and Salman Khan Films. The film features Anil Kapoor, Salman K ...
'' (2018), ''
Street Dancer 3D
''Street Dancer 3D'' is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by Remo D'Souza and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Lizelle D'Souza under the banners of T-Series and R.D. Entertainment. The film star ...
'' (2019), ''
Shyam Singha Roy'' (2021), and ''
Maja Ma'' (2022).
Terence Lewis has been her mentor since joining his team in ''
Dance India Dance
''Dance India Dance'' (also called by the acronym ''DID''; tagline: ''Dance Ka Asli ID D.I.D.'') is an Indian Hindi-language dance competition reality television series that airs on Zee TV, created and produced by Essel Vision Productions. I ...
'' and has assisted
Remo D'Souza
Remo D'Souza (born Ramesh Gopi Nair; 2 April 1974) is an Indian choreographer, film director, and producer. Over the course of his career spanning more than 25 years, D'Souza has choreographed more than 100 films. He is considered the most suc ...
along the way before becoming an independent choreographer.
Early life and career
Born into a Tamil Brahmin family in
Matunga
Matunga (Marathi pronunciation: aːʈuŋɡaː is a Neighbourhood in City area of Mumbai, India. It is accessible from the Matunga Road station on the Western line, Matunga station on the Central Line and King's Circle station on the Harbou ...
,
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, Kruti joined dance class as a 5-year-old and performed her Arangetram at the age of 14. She attended
Mumbai University
University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges.
It was est ...
and, after graduation, travelled to London, where she attended London South Bank University, obtaining a Masters in Forensic Science, and then returned to Mumbai due to her father's health issues. Her father encouraged her to pursue her passion for dance, which inspired her to compete in dance contests. She also worked as an embryologist at a clinic.
She was a contestant on
''Dance India Dance Season 2'' (2009), joining
Terence Lewis and gaining her recognition. She continued to be part of dance shows, serving as a skipper in ''DID Li'l Master season 2'' under the team Kruti Ke Kracters and Om Chetri from her team, finishing as the runner-up of the show. She became part of ''Dance Ke Superkids'', and was the choreographer along with Prince Gupta for Team Yahoo, which was led by
Raghav Juyal, and the team won the competition with
Faisal Khan, Soumya Rai, Rohan Parkale, Om Chetri, Jeet Das, Shalini Moitra, and Tanay Malhara as contestants in their team.
She assisted
Remo D'Souza
Remo D'Souza (born Ramesh Gopi Nair; 2 April 1974) is an Indian choreographer, film director, and producer. Over the course of his career spanning more than 25 years, D'Souza has choreographed more than 100 films. He is considered the most suc ...
in the song "
Balam Pichkari" from ''
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
''Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani'' (), also abbreviated as ''YJHD'', is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Ayan Mukerji, written by Mukerji and Hussain Dalal, and produced by Karan Johar under Dharma Produc ...
''. She continued assisting him in several films, among which were "Pinga" and "
Deewani Mastani" in
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali (born 24 February 1963) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and music composer, who works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including seven National Film Awards and twelve Filmf ...
's ''
Bajirao Mastani
''Bajirao Mastani'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language Epic film, epic historical film, historical tragedy film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who co-produced it with Eros International and composed its Bajirao Mastani (soundtrack), soundtrack ...
''. The success of the songs led Bhansali to offer her independent choreography for his next film, ''
Padmaavat
''Padmaavat'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language historical drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Based on the epic poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, it stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Sinhalese-born Rajput ...
''. The song eventually became "Ghoomar", which was based on a traditional folk dance that originated in Rajasthan under the
same name.
Ghoomar
Ghoomar or ghumar is a traditional folk dance of Rajasthan. It was the Bhil tribe who performed it to worship Goddess Saraswati which was later embraced by Rajputs. The dance is chiefly performed by veiled women who wear flowing dresses called ...
, traditionally performed by the Bhil tribes was later adopted by the Rajputs. Jyothi D. Tomar, an exponent in ghoomar worked with her on the project. The song and its dance, where
Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...
who featured as a Rajput princess, danced to it, received widespread critical acclaim. She received the
National Film Award for Best Choreography
The National Film Award for Best Choreography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (Sil ...
at the
66th National Film Awards
The 66th National Film Awards ceremony was the award ceremony which took place in 2019 to honour the best films of 2018, in the Indian cinema. The declaration of awards was delayed due to 2019 Indian general election.
Selection process
The Dir ...
along with Tomar and won several awards for best choreography.
She choreographed all the songs from ''
Race 3
''Race 3 ''is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language neo-noir action crime film directed by Remo D'Souza and Written by Kiran Kotrial and Shiraz Ahmed, produced under Tips Industries and Salman Khan Films. The film features Anil Kapoor, Salman K ...
'' along with
Rahul Shetty and
Remo D'Souza
Remo D'Souza (born Ramesh Gopi Nair; 2 April 1974) is an Indian choreographer, film director, and producer. Over the course of his career spanning more than 25 years, D'Souza has choreographed more than 100 films. He is considered the most suc ...
and also in ''
Street Dancer 3D
''Street Dancer 3D'' is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by Remo D'Souza and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Lizelle D'Souza under the banners of T-Series and R.D. Entertainment. The film star ...
'', where two of its songs, "Illegal Weapon" and "Nachi Nachi" received
Filmfare
''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...
nominations for
Best Choreography. "Gharmi" was another dance from the film by her that featured
Nora Fatehi
Nora Fatehi (born 6 February 1992) is a Canadian dancer and actress based in India. She has appeared in Hindi cinema, Hindi, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. Fatehi made her acting debut with the Hindi film ''Roar: ...
. "Ghani Cool Chori", a garba from ''
Rashmi Rocket
''Rashmi Rocket'' is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film directed by Akarsh Khurana and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. It stars Taapsee Pannu as the titular character alongside Abhishek Banerjee and Priyanshu Painyuli. The film prem ...
and the Punjabi dance "Jee Ni Karda" from ''
Sardar Ka Grandson'' were among her other songs. She choreographed
Sai Pallavi
Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan (; born 9 May 1992) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. Recognised as one of the finest actors in South Indian cinema, known for her portrayals of strong and challeng ...
in the song "Pranavalaya" from ''
Shyam Singha Roy.'' The dance which had elements of Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Mohiniyattam, became popular upon release.
She collaborated with Bhansali in ''
Gangubai Kathiawadi
''Gangubai Kathiawadi'' is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language biographical crime drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and produced by Bhansali and Jayantilal Gada. Based on the book '' Mafia Queens of Mumbai'' by S. Hussain Zaidi, it tells ...
for the songs "Dholida" and "Jhume Re Go" based on
Garba, danced by
Alia Bhatt
Alia Bhatt (; born 15 March 1993) is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi films. Known for Alia Bhatt filmography, her portrayals of women in challenging circumstances, she has received List of awards and nomin ...
which met with critical acclaim. She received the award for the
Best Choreography for "Dholida" at the
68th Filmfare Awards
The 68th Filmfare Awards is a ceremony, presented by The Times Group, honored the best Indian Hindi-language films of 2022.
'' Gangubai Kathiawadi'' led the ceremony with 17 nominations, and won a leading 11 awards, including Best Film, Best ...
.
She collaborated with
Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit Nene (Maiden and married names, née Dixit, ; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress and television personality. She has appeared in Madhuri Dixit filmography, over 70 Hindi films. Praised by critics for her performances and danc ...
in the film ''
Maja Ma'' (2022) for the song "Boom Padi", a foot tapping
Garba in a festive setting and worked on a Bhangra track for the Punjabi film, ''Godday Godday Chaa.
''
Filmography
Television appearance
Awards
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahesh, Kruti
21st-century Indian dancers
Indian choreographers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Indian film choreographers
Entertainers from Mumbai
University of Mumbai alumni
Dance India Dance
Participants in Indian reality television series
Filmfare Awards winners
International Indian Film Academy Awards winners
Zee Cine Awards winners
Best Choreography National Film Award winners