When an actor plays a dancer on-screen, especially a classical dancer, expectations are huge. I can think of two male actors who were great in this regard. Kamal Hassan was a trained dancer and pulled off a milestone like Sagara Sangamam in the 1980s. But a good actor (... though an untrained dancer) can get basic training and convey the idea before the camera. An actor has to just make you believe that he is a dancer. He cannot do with a year's training what a dancer does after a decade's regimen. Look at this dance from Kamaladalam. Mohanlal isn't a dancer but he has understood dance enough to enact on-screen and his understanding is conveyed in the clip shared by Revolutionary Monk He learnt the basics of the dance to "act" like a dancer from Nattuvan Paramasivam. Mohanlal upped the act a few years later as the ageing Kathakali artiste in Vanaprastham, for which he trained under the legendary Kalamandalam Gopi. You need to be convincing on screen. That's enough for an actor. Don't fail even with the basics and the choreographer and director have the responsibility to ensure they don't look like a parody on the big screen.show more

Arjun Narayanan

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