Ranbir Kapoor goes to Chhattisgarh to watch Pandavani

Ranbir Kapoor

Ranbir Kapoor and Imtiaz Ali recently met with Teejan Bai, an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art form from Chhattisgarh where she enacts tales from the Mahabharata with musical accompaniment. Ranbir and Imtiaz travelled to Chhattisgarh on August 25 and they apparently headed straight to Teejan Bai's place where they spent a good two hours in her company.

Ranbir Kapoor with Teejan Bai at her place in Chhattisgarh

Sources say that though it was a hush-hush meeting, the entire village of Ganiyari got wind of it and had gathered outside her residence. Ranbir sat with Teejan Bai for a while and after having breakfast at her place, they headed to the village ground where she usually performs. Teejan Bai was aware about the meeting, but was pleasantly surprised when Ranbir and Imtiaz expressed a desire to see her performance.

Ranbir signing autographs

A source from Chhattisgarh says, "Ranbir and Imtiaz came to Teejan Bai's house recently and the entire village was waiting outside in order to get a glimpse of the two. Ranbir and Imtiaz then saw her performance and left by noon. Ranbir was warm and affectionate, he posed for pictures and signed autographs."

Ranbir with Imtiaz Ali (in white) outside Teejan Bai's house

Teejan Bai confirmed the news. "Ranbir and Imtiaz came down to meet me; we have been in talks for over a month. I did two of my performances, Subhadra Haran and Dushasan Vadh. They also quizzed me about my life, my passion for dance and how I have come this far. I was happy to host them."

"Ranbir and Imtiaz met her for their film, Tamasha. They are probably including one of the dance forms in the film and Imtiaz wanted Ranbir to understand how it's done," says another source close to the film. Imtiaz and Ranbir were unavailable for comment.