Dance Like a Man

• Shobana as Ratna
• Arif Zakaria as Jairaj Parekh
• Anoushka Shankar as Lata
• Mohan Agashe as Amritlal Parekh
• Samir Soni as Vishal

Shobana and Anoushka Shankar were cast in the film due to their expertise in Bharatanatyam.{{Cite web|title=Shobana ready with Pamela Rooks' 'Dance Like a Man'|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/eyecatchers/story/20031229-shobana-ready-with-pamela-rooks-dance-like-a-man-791188-2003-12-28|website=India Today|date=29 December 2003|first=Kanika|last=Gahlaut|access-date=8 October 2023|archive-date=8 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008044530/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/eyecatchers/story/20031229-shobana-ready-with-pamela-rooks-dance-like-a-man-791188-2003-12-28|url-status=live}} After liking Arif Zakaria's performance as a eunuch in Darmiyaan (1997),{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/10/02/stories/2004100200500300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207053102/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/10/02/stories/2004100200500300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 February 2005|work=The Hindu|title=From stage to screen|date=2 October 2004|access-date=8 October 2023}} he was cast in this film and underwent training in Bharatanatyam. The film was shot in Bangalore akin to the play.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bangalore-times/all-set-to-shoot-dance-like-a-man/articleshow/31102210.cms|title=All set to shoot Dance Like a Man|date=13 December 2002|work=The Times of India|access-date=8 October 2023|archive-date=30 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930042629/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bangalore-times/all-set-to-shoot-dance-like-a-man/articleshow/31102210.cms|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title='Dance Like A Man is an intimate story' |url=https://m.rediff.com/movies/2003/feb/19pamela.htm |access-date=8 October 2023 |website=Rediff.com |date=19 February 2003 |archive-date=8 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008044417/https://m.rediff.com/movies/2003/feb/19pamela.htm |url-status=live }} Shobana didn't watch the play because she didn't want to be influenced by it.{{Cite web|title=Shobhana|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/shobhana/225396|website=Outlook|date=5 February 2022|first=Saumya|last=Roy|access-date=8 October 2023|archive-date=8 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008044422/https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/shobhana/225396|url-status=live}}

Film critic Subhash K. Jha wrote that "Unlike Mahesh Dattani, who has deliberately denuded his film Morning Raga of the theatrical element, Pamela Rooks seems to revel in the staginess of the original material".{{Cite web|url=https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/1737/english/dance-like-a-man/326/review.htm|title=Dance Like A Man Review|via=Nowrunning|first=Subhash K.|last=Jha|author-link=Subhash K. Jha|date=30 September 2004|access-date=8 October 2023|archive-date=26 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926161303/https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/1737/english/dance-like-a-man/326/review.htm|url-status=live}} A critic from Rediff.com and wrote that "Dance Like A Man can be lauded for trying, though it could have done much better to rise above the bookishness that often hampers the script".{{Cite web|title=When a man dances|url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/oct/01dance.htm|access-date=8 October 2023|website=Rediff.com|date=1 October 2004|first=Bijoy|last=Venugopal|archive-date=14 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214145014/http://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/oct/01dance.htm|url-status=live}} Reviewing the film at its Chennai screening in October 2004, a critic from The Hindu wrote that "On the whole the story and the time zones lend themselves to visual poetry at times eventhoughthe dialogue is painfully studied. The director uses the past and present in alternating sequences to tell the story and the visual imagery contrasts and merges with the narration. Adding mood to the striking frames are the classically tuned background score by Ganesh-Kumaresh, which heightens the sense of time and ambience in an artiste' s environment. But this is the kind of film that will attract only a niche audience".{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004100102160300.htm&date=2004/10/01/&prd=fr&|title=Dance Like A Man|date=1 October 2004|work=The Hindu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127022038/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004100102160300.htm&date=2004%2F10%2F01%2F&prd=fr&|archive-date=27 November 2007|url-status=usurped|first=Chitra|last=Mahesh|access-date=8 October 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0373779}}

{{National Film Award Best Feature Film English}}

Category:Indian dance films

Category:Indian drama films

Category:Best English Feature Film National Film Award winners