Bharatanatyam held hostage! Outrage over Ananya's Chand Mera Dil scene explained

Ananya Panday found herself at the centre of a fresh social media storm on Monday morning after users rediscovered clips of her Bharatanatyam performance from her latest release, Chand Mera Dil. The sequence was heavily criticised online, with several classical dancers calling it an insult to the ancient dance form. But what exactly happens in the film? And what is Ananya actually doing in the now-viral clips?

Ananya stars opposite Lakshya in Chand Mera Dil, a romantic drama centred on two aspiring engineers navigating heartbreak, family baggage, old traumas and the complicated idea of forever.

The fusion performance

The controversial scene appears during a college reunion sequence, which plays a significant emotional role in the film. Ananya's character, Chandni, is the daughter of a Bharatanatyam dancer. However, instead of performing a traditional recital, she presents a fusion act, blending Bharatanatyam-inspired choreography with modern hip-hop and locking.

The skit appears twice in the film: first during Chandni's college days and later at a reunion function. On both occasions, Lakshya's character Aarav is shown completely mesmerised by her performance.

Much of the outrage online seems to stem from viewers treating the sequence as a pure Bharatanatyam performance, while overlooking the fact that the film positions it as a deliberate fusion act. That, however, has not stopped the backlash.

Iconic Bharatanatyam dancer Anita Ratnam also criticised the performance and 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 (sic)."

Another user wrote, "Bharatnatyam was founded in 200 BCE and ended with Ananya Pandey in 2026 (sic)."

Check more reactions to Ananya Panday's Bharatanatyam performance from Chand Mera Dil here:

If you ask us, while Ananya certainly looks stunning in the sequence, neither the Bharatanatyam portions nor the hip-hop moves land with enough grace or conviction to truly pull off the ambitious fusion concept. The performance feels caught awkwardly between two worlds — too stylised to be classical, yet too restrained to fully embrace contemporary flair.

Directed by Vivek Soni and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, Chand Mera Dil hit theatres on May 22. India Today gave the film a 1.5-star rating in its review.

A part of the review read, "Chand Mera Dil often feels less like a theatrical romance and more like an Ekta Kapoor television serial with a better costume budget. Actually, scratch that - it genuinely plays like a modern-day Kasautii Zindagii Kay (this is the right spelling, btw). All that's missing is dramatic thunder sounds and someone re-entering after plastic surgery. Because at some point, you will spot an Anurag, a Prerna, a Sneha and a Mr Bajaj lurking inside this film."