Natyam - dance first, think later

 

Natyam

Telugu, 2021

Director - Revanth Korukonda

Stars - Sandhya Raju, Rohit Besal, Kamal Kamaraju, Adithya Menon

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐

It takes great poetic license to attribute the preservation of Indian classical dance to one single village somewhere just outside Hyderabad.  It takes even greater license to claim the art being presented in this movie is anything close to classical.

Sandhya Raju's dance style, even when it is not fusion, is filled with modern ballet movements, and far less facial expression and hand gestures.  We wonder at it, and wonder too how a hip hop dancer from Hyderabad can suddenly be accepted into a traditional gurukulam.

Natyam is really a typical romantic story about forbidden love and rebellious young adults who break free of tradition to prove the world wrong.  Its dance sequences are a visual treat, but can hardly hold a very weak story, and equally weak acting together.