Brij Mohan Nath Mishra was born on 4 February 1937 in Lucknow into an illustrious family of musicians. Popularly known as #BirjuMaharaj he would go on to become one of the most recognized personalities of Indian classical dance and make his own way as a artiste. 
His father was the famed Pt. Jagannath Mishra (d.1947) , popularly known as Achchan Maharaj was the eldest among the three sons of Pt. Kalika Prasad. He was an expert of both Nritta and Bhava. He would serve as court musician of the Raja of Raigdh.
Achchan Maharaj was a disciple of both his father Kalika Prasad (d.1910) as well as his uncle very famous uncle Bindadin Maharaj (1830-1913). Originally from Lucknow, the duo were pioneers of contemporary kathak as court musicians of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh.
Among the most widely performed compositions of the Bindadin Maharaj is "Niratat Dhang"
Achchan Maharaj was the only real disciple of his father and uncle and would go on to initiate the training not just his own son #BirjuMaharaj , but also his own younger brothers, Baijnath Prasad, affectionately called Luchchu and Shambhunath, or Shambhu Maharaj.
Luchchu Maharaj started giving public performances from the ag of 10. Based in Bombay he would go on choreograph films such as in Mahal, Mughal-e-Azam and Paakeezah. Here is rare film of a baithak adakari performance.
Shambhu Maharaj also learnt classical Hindustani music, especially the Thumri-Anga, under the guidance of Rahimuddin Khan. He alsorevived to a great extent the use of Ashtapadis in popular performance. Here he is performing and singing a Bindadin thumri.
#BirjuMaharaj father died when Maharaj was barely 10 and he would continue training under his uncles. Having spent much of his childhood in #Kolkata, he moved to Delhi in 1950. From his uncles he learnt to dance, sing and play percussion instruments.
Here is archival footage of him playing tabla with Pt. Durga Lal (Pakhawaj) and Pt.Gopi Krishna. Gopi was his Guru-Bhai as student of Sambhu Maharaj. He would help Gopi when the latter worked on Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. Gopi also worked on Umrao Jaan.
He worked with Luchchu Maharaj in 1960 when the latter choreographed the blockbuster Mugahl-e-Azam, particular the song "Mohe Panghat Pe Nandlal" directed by Naushad and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. It is believed to be a composition from Lucknow court.
He would go on to teach at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra in Delhi, and at the Kathak Kendra (a unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi) where he was Head of Faculty, and director, retiring in 1998.
#BirjuMaharaj choreographed and sung in the Satyajit Ray film "Shatranj ke khiladi" in 1977. His senior student Shaswati Sen is performing to a Bindadin Maharaj thumri.
Performing here with Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty
He died from a heart attack at his residence in Delhi, on 17 January 2022, at the age of 84. He had long been suffering from kidney disease.
One of his last appearances was as a guest on the Dance Plus reality show in 2019. Just see his expressions!
One of his last appearances was as a guest on the Dance Plus reality show in 2019. Just see his expressions!
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