‘Why Target Her?’: Shobhaa De Defends Ananya Panday Amid Backlash Over Bharatanatyam Fusion In Chand Mera Dil

Ananya Panday has been hitting headlines ever since her film Chand Mera Dil released in theatres recently. Her Bharatanatyam fusion dance in the film has sparked major backlash online. Netizens have been trolling the actress and calling out her performance. Amid the criticism, Author and columnist Shobhaa De has now come out in Ananya’s support, questioning why the backlash has been aimed only at the actor.

In a video shared online, Shobhaa De said that Ananya Panday is not a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and said the criticism should not be directed only at her. She said, “She’s not a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, and if you have to call out anyone, shouldn’t it be the choreographer and the director? Why target her?”

She further added that there’s

a lot of pressure on young stars to perform an art form that they aren’t aware of. Shobhaa continued, “Not just her, I feel there’s an incredible amount of pressure on our young stars and even the older stars, most of whom were not trained classical dancers but were expected to perform classical dances or fusion dances or modern dances – any kind of dance that the director thought was needed for a sequence.”

She further reflected on how actors give their all that their performance demands. She said, “They did it, they lip-synced, they danced, they showed expressions. Is all that easy? It’s not easy at all. How many Hollywood stars do you know? How many big international stars have to do all of this and look amazing and look fabulous and look in love for the film, for whatever the performance demands?”

Addressing the criticism directed at Ananya, she added, “I haven’t watched the film – I’ve seen clips – but to be constantly trolled and called ‘Nepo Natyam’, it sounds cute, but she has tried. And like I said, if you have to call out anyone, get the choreographer and get them to answer, though I believe the clip has been taken out of context. Well, you decide.”

Meanwhile, Ananya’s dad Chunky Panday too recently defended her and said that people have “misunderstood” it.

Chand Mera Dil stars Ananya alongside Lakshya, who was last seen in Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood.