DU Student’s Bharatanatyam Dance In Metro Leaves Netizens In Awe

DELHI: On a fine March afternoon, when 19-year-old Manya Dadhichi found an empty coach of a Delhi Metro train, she could not resist putting her smartphone on the floor and pressing the record button of the camera. She showcased Bharatanatyam steps on Priya Saraiya’s ‘Kalle Kalle’ and posted the video on Instagram.

The video went viral within a matter of a few days, garnering nearly 7.8 lakhs views and more than 97,000 likes on the social media platform.

“I was confident that this video will make me popular,” she told The New Indian.

With the next metro station approaching, Manya had to film her jaw-dropping dance steps as soon as possible, she recounts.

“I have always had a certain kind of confidence in my training, that even if this video does not go viral, I would at least make me popular. I was confident that it would take time but it would eventually happen,” she said.

And it did happen! Her Instagram reel has been shared widely by several social media influencers and even by Saraiya, who sang ‘Kalle Kalle’ song for Ayushmann Khurran-starrer ‘Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui’ which was released in 2021.

 

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Talking about the appreciation that she received, Manya said the number of followers on her account has increased drastically. “So, now I am under a kind of pressure to do better,” the student of Hansraj College shared.

Manya said she wanted to become a trained dancer since her childhood. “But I was puzzled as to which dance form I should choose. The clash was always between Kathak and Bharatanatyam. I was lucky because my Guru Maa Sandhya Joshi knew both,” she shared.

“I started with Bharatanatyam but continued practicing Kathak as well and trained myself equally in Kathak too,” she continued.

She was passionate about bringing something new by mixing Bharatanatyam and Kathak. “But on many occasions, I was scolded by my Guru Maa when she felt that I was mixing too much of Kathak and Bharatnatyam and their elements were getting lost,” she said.

Speaking about the support she received in course of her journey to become a professional dancer, Manya said, “My parents and Guru Maa always supported me. I am grateful for their involvement in my life.”

A native of Dehradun, the second-year BSc student wants to keep all the options open for her including dancing and studying.