Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2020
Running time : 1 hour 57 minutes
Director : Sooni Taraporevala
Cast : Julian Sands, Jim Sarbh, Manish Chauhan, Danish Husain, Achintya Bose
Kidwise : G
Yeh Ballet is the story of 2 boys from poor/underprivileged backgrounds learning ballet, loving it and excelling in it despite objections from family/friends/society in general. It is a lovely, heart-warming film told sparely but with genuine emotion and good acting.
Asif (Bose) is running around with a small-time gang in his neighborhood, but when his compatriots get caught by the police and land in jail, he swears off the petty crime and focuses on his dance. Luckily for him, his brother has managed to land him a spot with a new teacher from America, who notices Asif’s talent in ballet and encourages him. Then there is also Nishu who has made it on reality dance shows on television but is struggling to get ahead in his dancing career. His parents have worked hard to get him to college, and they’d rather he not fritter away his time in frivolous activities like dance. He persists however, and when he finally lands an audition with ballet virtuoso Saul (Sands), Saul helps him and Asif apply to a ballet school in the US.
This film is based on the real life story of two boys – Manish Chauhan (he plays Nishu in the film) Amiruddin Shah and their teacher Israeli-American Yehuda Maor. I really liked this film because although it was slow-going in the beginning and seemed to dither here and there without resolving into a firm plot, it gathered pace and heft by building up the characters and their back stories.
The film feels spare, the acting natural and the emotion genuine. Director Taraporevala shows us the immense odds against these boys and their dancing – the poverty, classism, the bigotry against ballet as an “unmanly” dance. She also manages to convey the honesty of the intentions and the good-will, the warm fuzzy feeling that there are good people and that dreams do come true.
Bose and Chauhan were lovely to watch as dancers and actors, and Julian Sands as ballet teacher Saul Aaron carried the film. Jim Sarbh (he had a major role in the Prime series Made in Heaven), Danish Hussain (we saw him in the marvelous Netflix series Taj Mahal 1989) have supporting roles in the film and are also excellent, Sarbh especially as the dance class manager.
Yeh Ballet is quite lovely and well worth your time. Go watch!
Kidwise: Clean.
