Why people feel Aishwaryaa Dhanush's Bharatnatyam show was a slap on the face of India at UN
"Chance pe dance" is something that Aishwaryaa R Dhanush did not quite manage to do at the UN headquarters in New York.
The Kollywood director, who is a UN Women Advocate for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in India, recently managed to draw everyone's "attention" with her disastrous Bharatanatyam performance on International Women’s Day.
Yes, the dance performance wasn’t the best of sights and has been criticised far and wide. According to many, it was not just amateurish, but unsightly. Her selection for this prestigious performance, thus, reeks of nepotism. And it may well be true. When there is no dearth of virtuosic artists in this country, why let a “star” besmirch the art form with mediocrity?
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| Photo: Indiatoday.in |
Anita Ratnam, an Indian classical and contemporary dancer of repute, took to Twitter and called Aishwaryaa’s postures and performance “disgraceful”.
“The pathetic state of Bharatanatyam at the UN,” she added.
Of course, criticism was followed with trolling as well. And with trolling, some misogyny managed to seep in as well.
@vnsiva there are many deserving dancers without political or star clout
— Anita Ratnam (@aratnam) March 10, 2017
Just watched the mesmerising dance performance by Aishwarya Dhanush. Not sure what crap was that to perform at UN.Advtge of being a celebrity
— Sujith Kumar (@sujithkumar13) March 10, 2017
Who is the BEST ?? RT For Sasi ????❤️ For Aishuu????. #UN #Rajinikanth #aishwaryadhanush #sasikala #savebharathanatiyam #suchileakes #Dhanush pic.twitter.com/9ImGlsGsqw
— Avatar! (@CitizenAvatar) March 11, 2017
#Thala #Ajith Die hard Fan #aishwaryadhanush ???????? pic.twitter.com/N5Domx2tpx
— Trollywood (@trollywoodoffi) March 11, 2017
????????????watch this #aishwaryadhanush pic.twitter.com/26MvRuGzJv
— Anto ajith (@Antoajith1) March 11, 2017
Indians watching #aishwaryadhanush #bharatanatyam performance in UN. pic.twitter.com/vOvKMiD42A
— Mʊȶɦʊֆɛʟʋǟռ Sɨʋǟʍ (@iMSivam) March 11, 2017
#bharatanatyam experts would have not choose me but #DirtyPolitics had different ways to do! #aishwaryadhanush! pic.twitter.com/AL4UKlkGIB
— joe (@joselin107) March 11, 2017
Even if we are to ignore the trolls for a moment, we should definitely question the rampant nepotism. Only recently, Kangana Ranaut called out Bollywood director and producer Karan Johar on his own show. She called him the flag-bearer of nepotism, which led to Johar and other members of the Bollywood fraternity attack Ranaut.
But nepotism in Bollywood is far less insidious (although quite toxic in itself) when you compare it to rare opportunities given to artists at an international level. On one hand, we scream about our cuture and values, on the other, we squander opportunities to promote them on satisfying inflated star egos.
What could well have been an opportunity to uplift the career of a talented artist, and make the world appreciate our rich heritage and graceful dance forms, instead became an event of embarrassment for the country.