DANCE LIKE A MAN is a good off beat movie yet again based on a play by Mahesh Dattani and directed by Pamela Brooks who is foreigner who has empathy with Indian artistic traditions. This is the story of a dancing inter-caste married couple. The story winds around the daughter's debut (arengetram).. Shobana the talented Bharatanatyam dancer who acts as the mother, excels in the dance pieces and also in acting. Anouska Shankar (daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar) was good foil with very natural uninhibited acting and good dance pieces. Mohan Agashe the veteran theater actor gives a cameo performance as the conventional father-in-law. The BN pieces are delightful to watch and the music by the talented Ganesh Kumersh the young violin duo was excellent. But the story is rather weak and the reason for the parents stopping their dance career due the traumatic death of their child (son) while the mother was performing in a dance concert is not much convincing. Many dance performers have children and they mange to combine art and family successfully.
All in all a good film and my vote of 7 out of 10 is mainly for the wonderful dance pieces both by Shobana and Anouska. This is not as powerful as MORNING RAGA , a film on Carnatic music, by Mahesh Dattani which had a stronger story.
