 In addition to Kathak, Gopi Krishna learned Bharatanatyam from Mahalingam Pillai and Govind Raj Pillai.Despite suffering from chronic asthma he continued to expand his dance repertoire, receiving the title of "Nataraj" (King of Dancers) at the All Bengal Music Conference at the age of 15.In 1952, 17-year-old Gopi Krishna became one of the youngest choreographers in Hindi film history when he was hired to choreograph dances for Madhubala in "Saqi".