Charu Shankar, who plays Ananya Panday's on-screen mother in Chand Mera Dil, has spoken out about the much-criticised Bharatanatyam scene. The actor explains that the scene was always conceived as a contemporary and edgy introduction for Ananya's character, Chandni.
Charu Shankar trained for months with a Bharatanatyam teacher to get the character's nuances right, learning mudras, abhinaya, nattuvangam, and jatis in Adi Taalam. She wanted dance to exist in her character, Nivedita, unconsciously, and to feel like someone who had lived with classical dance for decades.
The actor bonded with Ananya Panday through dance, and the two became deeply committed to the process. Charu Shankar notes that dance helps Nivedita and Chandni carry on amid unfair domestic realities, and that their artistry becomes part of how they survive and process pain.
Charu Shankar defends the scene, saying that 'trolling is never in good taste' and that 'mockery is not okay'. She believes that conversations around art are valid, but that mockery is not.
