Conceived and Directed by Ayisha Abraham Archival Material Courtesy: Ashish Kokhar (The Mohan Kokhar Archive) Music by Yashas Shetty Edited by Manasa Rao Interviews with dancers: Kumidini Lakhia, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Bhanumathi Rao, B. Saroja and dance critic Sunil Kothari I Saw a God Dance, is a short film on the dancer Ram Gopal, by the artist Ayisha Abraham. “In this film, I am caught between the documentary form and something more abstract and experimental,” offered Abraham. “The title reflects the angle I am exploring. I attempt to look at how both in his dance and his real life, Ram Gopal’s quest was to become and to represent God in all the manifestations that play out both on-stage and off-stage.” The film picks up on aspects of the dancer’s “debauched aesthete identity, his need to continue to dress as Indian Royalty through his life, to represent in his myriad dances, the pantheon of Indian Gods”, explained Abraham. “The context is the mid-20th century world of immense change, nationally and internationally.”