Sudha Chandran: Hindi channels don’t take me seriously as a dancer

Sudha Chandran

In a departure from her antagonist acts in daily soaps, Sudha Chandran is turning host for Crime Alert. The Dangal TV show offers a dramatic retelling of real-life criminal cases. "In my 30 years of television, this is the first time I am anchoring a crime show. It was initially difficult and has been a learning process," says the actor.

Chandran has been a regular fixture on Hindi television since the early 2000s. It's a shame, however, that popular dance reality shows haven't featured her despite her credentials as one of the finest Bharatnatyam artistes in the country. Given her trained eye and the fortitude she displayed when she met with an accident early on in her life, she would be the perfect fit for a mentor to aspiring dancers - a fact that she proved when she judged many dance reality shows in the south, including Super Dancer and Zee Dance League. Asked why she hasn't been seen as a judge in any Hindi dance reality show, she says, "That's a million-dollar question! My fans and I keep asking that. I would love to see myself as one of the judges. I don't know why Hindi channels and producers don't take me as seriously as a dancer, as they do as an actor."

Despite the lack of support from mainstream media, she tries to promote the classical form in her own way. "I recently went to India's Best Dancer to support a Kathak artiste. I feel that classical dancers are not given prominence on reality shows. I took the opportunity to tell people that classical form is the oldest form of dance, and we need to respect it."