The recently released Chand Mera Dil begins on an interesting note. Director Vivek Soni has a knack for taking familiar situations and executing them with a certain freshness and visual imagination. One saw glimpses of this quality in his 2025 Netflix film Aap Jaisa Koi, and his latest outing, Chand Mera Dil, is no exception.

Ananya Panday’s Chand Mera Dil dance row proves EVERYTHING that’s wrong with social media outrage and context-free trolling

In the first 15 minutes of the film, viewers are introduced to Aarav, played by Lakshya, a disinterested student struggling to sit through a college orientation programme. Just then, Chandni, played by Ananya Panday, arrives on stage for a performance. What begins as a classical Bharatnatyam presentation soon takes an unexpected turn as she brings in fusion elements, lending the scene a distinct flavour. The use of the ‘Priya Madhuri’ song further enhances the mood. By the end of the performance, Aarav is not only fully captivated by Chandni but also begins to develop feelings for her.

Sadly, this imaginative and well-executed sequence has now become the subject of massive trolling on social media. On the afternoon of May 24, a Twitter account uploaded a small portion of the dance sequence. The quality of the video clearly suggested that it was edited from an illegally downloaded pirated print of Chand Mera Dil. The 20-second clip offered no context whatsoever. In fact, one needs to watch the full sequence from the beginning to understand its significance, visual appeal, narrative purpose and the fusion element.

Seen in isolation, the final portion of the dance does appear unusual. The poor quality of the pirated print also makes it difficult to properly hear the ‘Priya Madhuri’ track, which plays an important role in the scene. Hence, an attempt was made to show that Ananya’s dance sequence was an insult to Bharatnatyam.

As expected, many people jumped in to criticize Ananya and her dance moves. For several verified accounts, this became an easy chance to attack her and commercial Hindi cinema. After all, such posts often get quick engagement, and the more reactions they get, the more they earn money from it.

What is important to note is that the video surfaced on Twitter only on the third day of the film’s release. By then, several reviews and audience reactions to Chand Mera Dil were already out. The film had received its share of positive and negative feedback. Yet, even the harshest reviews from critics and viewers did not single out Ananya’s dance sequence as a problematic or offensive moment. That is because those who watched the film in its entirety saw the scene in its proper context and understood its intent.

This is in sharp contrast to, say, a film like the recently released Kartavya, which triggered backlash almost immediately after it premiered on Netflix, with several viewers criticizing Saurabh Dwivedi’s performance. In the case of Chand Mera Dil, there was no such immediate outrage from theatre-going audiences. Had the dance sequence truly offended viewers, the conversation around it would have exploded on Friday itself, not after a pirated, out-of-context clip began circulating two days later.

In other words, the selective circulation of only a small part of the sequence seems less like genuine criticism and more like an attempt to mock Ananya Panday, Karan Johar and Hindi cinema at large. Just a few days ago, the same gang was busy trolling Alia Bhatt’s Cannes appearance. A few months ago, Varun Dhawan’s casting in Border 2 was mocked endlessly, only for that negativity to backfire after the film’s release. Now, the target appears to be Ananya. Tomorrow, some other star kid will be their target.

This kind of relentless trolling has already created a sense of fear within the industry. Many creative people today begin second-guessing themselves even before attempting something new or unusual. They worry that if an experiment does not land perfectly, they’ll be trolled massively. As a result, filmmakers often become hesitant to take risks and instead fall back on tried-and-tested formulas. And then, ironically, the same social media voices ask: “Why doesn’t Bollywood try something fresh?”

Chand Mera Dil’s dance sequence may or may not work for every viewer, and that is absolutely fine. But to judge it without watching the film, without context, and through an illegally downloaded clip is not criticism. It is yet another example of how social media, in its rush to mock, can end up discouraging creativity itself.

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: CBFC censors 96 seconds of kissing scenes in Lakshya-Ananya Panday starrer Chand Mera Dil