Have the top stories straight to your inbox for free - once a day, every day Yes please! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

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.

"After her sudden death, we decided to give a tribute to her contribution to dance and Indian cinema and Mono created the artwork. The Mural is so prominently placed that when drive from the city centre towards Golden Mile, you can see it from the distance. That gives a cultural identity to the this place."

Anand along with his 300 students are trying to reclaim the walls of Belgrave Road and give them a vibrant look.

"I have an eye on some more walls in Belgrave. So, hopefully there will be more murals coming up," Anand said.