Bharatanatyam dancers review Ananya Panday's ‘catastrophic’ dance; Chand Mera Dil choreographer thinks actor ‘nailed it’

The internet is flooded with clips of Ananya Panday performing a fusion Bharatanatyam dance in her recent film Chand Mera Dil. The reactions are not flattering.

If you’ve been online in the last 24 hours, you must have seen the clip of Ananya Panday performing a Bharatanatyam fusion on stage as her Chand Mera Dil co-star Lakshya looks on in awe. However, the scene from the film seems to have an opposite effect on everyone else, as many X (formerly Twitter) users criticised the moves. Bharatanatyam dancers have also chimed in on the performance, even as the film’s assistant choreographer thinks the actor has ‘nailed it’.

Ananya Panday performs a Bharatanatyam fusion in Chand Mera Dil.

What is the Bharatanatyam scene from Chand Mera Dil?

In Chand Mera Dil, Ananya plays Chandni, the daughter of a Bharatanatyam dancer played by Charu Shankar. The scene circulating online shows her character opting to perform a fusion act, blending Bharatanatyam with hip-hop and locking, instead of a traditional recital. While such fusion performers already exist, many on X believe the scene did not land as intended.

What do Bharatanatyam dancers say?

Well-known dancer and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award recipient Anita R Ratnam, known for her Neo Bharatam dance form, reviewed Ananya’s performance on X. She wrote, “Watching this clip felt like Bharatanatyam being held hostage by a catastrophic misunderstanding of the form. Somewhere between the flailing arms and random camera moves, the dance quietly packed its bags and exited the building.”

She also added, “Bharatanatyam is built on technique, control, tradition, geometry, musicality and emotional depth. This clip treats it like a wedding sangeet filmed during a mild earthquake. The tragedy is not that it is BAD. Bad can sometimes be charming. The tragedy is the complete confidence with which it bulldozes through centuries of sophistication, training, dedication and devotion while appearing utterly unaware that ADAVUS are not optional suggestions. This is choreography by algorithmic panic - and Lord Nataraja is suffering this abomination.”

She tagged another dancer, Krithika Sivaswamy, who wrote, “Ananya pandey's "Bharatnatyam " shows how the industry is insensitive to classical arts, how they mock it and the audacity to put it up publicly on a screen. Unfortunately in India there is no mechanism to sue those who mock classical arts. Its very fluid which makes anyone do any crap with it.”

What does the Chand Mera Dil choreographer say?

Ananya R Kurup, the assistant choreographer credited for Ananya’s Bharatanatyam fusion dance, posted a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what went into it. She also posted a picture with Ananya and a video of her name appearing in the credits.

A portion of her caption reads: “@ananyapanday you are truly one of the sweetest person I know!! It was such a lovely experience teaching you Bharatanatyam, and you’ve absolutely nailed your performance in Chand Mera Dil.” Ananya responded to her with heart emojis.

Chand Mera Dil is directed by Vivek Soni and co-written by Soni and Tushar Paranjape. It is produced by Dharma Productions. The film was released in theatres on May 22 to mixed reviews.