For artists like Sonal Mansingh and Anita Ratnam, borrowing the costume and name of a classical form without its discipline is not fusion. It is distortion.
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Ananya Panday’s romantic drama ‘Chand Mera Dil’ released in theatres on May 22. The film barely had time to settle before one particular scene set off a fierce debate online. In the film, Ananya plays Chandni, the daughter of a Bharatanatyam practitioner. Rather than showcasing a pure version of the classical dance, her character performs a fusion routine that mixes Bharatanatyam-inspired choreography with modern hip-hop and locking styles. The dance appears twice in the film. It first shows up during Chandni’s college years and later at a reunion, where her love interest Aarav, played by Lakshya, looks on with admiration.
Clips from the scene spread rapidly on social media. What followed was a wave of criticism, memes, and pointed commentary from viewers and classical dance practitioners alike.
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The loudest voice in this debate has been that of Padma Vibhushan recipient Sonal Mansingh, one of India’s most celebrated exponents of Bharatanatyam and Odissi.
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Speaking to ANI, Mansingh called the performance “absolute trash” and said it was “unacceptable.” She went further by refusing to even classify it as a performance.
“I won’t even call it a performance. I’m sorry. If you can say that Sonal Mansingh performs and Ananya Panday also performs, we can’t say that,” she said.
Mansingh also rejected the defence of labelling the act a “fusion” piece. She said: “It is absolute trash. And such things should not be going through. Or don’t call it Bharatanatyam. Why put on that dress and all that? Just wear something. Just do whatever you like.”
For Mansingh, this is not an isolated incident. She stressed that the problem goes beyond this one film and has been building for years. “This is not the only instance. It has caused a big wave of backlash, but this has been happening over the past few years, for the past two to three decades,” she said.
Mansingh is not alone. Renowned dancer Anita Ratnam also condemned the performance, writing: “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.”
Social media reactions ranged from sharp to darkly comic, with one user writing: “Bharatanatyam was founded in 200 BCE and ended with Ananya Pandey in 2026.”
Neither Ananya Panday nor the makers of ‘Chand Mera Dil’ have publicly responded to the criticism so far.
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