The meaning behind the Bollywood glamour murals in Leicester's Belgrave Road

Murals of Bollywood dancing divas are adorning the walls of Belgrave Road to give it a colourful makeover.

An initiative by the Aakash Odedra Company, a Bollywood and contemporary dance organisation, this step was taken in 2017 when the owners decided to give the dull unimpressive wall of their dance school to graffiti artist Mono to give it a colourful twist.

Mono created murals of two iconic film stars of India, Rekha and Madhubala in their dancing avatars, in sync with the theme of the dance academy.

Anand Bhatt, the artistic director of Aakash Odedra Company, said: "As a dance organisation, children and young adults come to learn here. We thought that it is our responsibility to give them a better space and for that we needed to take ownership. Belgrave Road is the hub of Indian culture of Leicester, so this mural will represent that culture."

When the two murals were welcomed graciously by the people of Belgrave Road, Anand Bhatt decided to crowdfund the third mural on Sridevi, the first female superstar of Indian cinema, who died of accidental drowning in 2018.

Anand Bhatt from dance school Aakash Odedra commisoned murals to be painted on Garfield Street to brighten up the area and created a garden and regularly cleans litter to keep the area clean. Photos by Peter Fothergill.