Ananya's Father Reacts To 'Bad' Bharatanatyam

Once upon a time, star kids getting trolled was routine. But now, even their “experiments” are becoming controversy material within minutes. The latest target is Bollywood starlet Ananya Panday. A small clip from her last Friday’s release Chand Mera Dil featuring her dancing Bharatanatyam went viral, and social media exploded instantly with brutality. Classical dancers, politicians, and meme pages all jumped in together, accusing her of insulting Bharatanatyam, the classical 2000 year old artform.

The trolling became so intense that now her father, actor Chunky Panday had to step in and defend her. He stated that people completely misunderstood the context. He clarified that it was never meant to be a pure Bharatanatyam performance. But it was designed as a fusion dance sequence mixing futuristic and modern movements with classical elements. He also reminded everyone that real Bharatanatyam takes decades of discipline and technical mastery, and nobody was trying to present Ananya as a trained classical dancer.

But social media is not ready to listen calmly anymore. The moment audiences saw mudras and classical costumes, they immediately started comparing her performance with that of trained Bharatanatyam artists. If you’re doing fusion, then you should have worn some futuristic costumes than the traditional Tamil Nadu saree and colors. Many felt Bollywood once again used a classical art form only for creating some glamour dose, quite cheaply.

Interestingly, the film’s assistant choreographer also came out strongly in Ananya’s support. She revealed that the actress worked hard in a short period of time and genuinely tried to learn the form respectfully. According to her, trying something outside comfort zone should be encouraged instead of mocked. Well, on that note, people are saying, if you’re not perfect at something, just don’t do it, they say.