Painted Smiles

To invite this group for a live concert, please visit https://indianraga.com/live or email info@indianraga.com Painted Smiles, struggles with body image depicted through Bhartanatyam, performed to ‘Chinnanchiru Kiliye’, Subramanya Bharati’s famous song celebrating a daughter, interwoven with the poem “Pretty Ugly” by Abdullah Shoaib. This Indian classical dance piece, choreographed by the dancers themselves, delves into the emotions and experiences of young people struggling to cope with their own negative body image and the changing ideas around them about beauty especially in the age of Instagram models and other intense influences. Dancers Tejaswini Mohankumar, Reshma Shajan, Chiinthu Sarvananthan, Chethana Yerramsetty and Shwetha Subraya use Bharatanatyam/Kuchipudi Abhinaya and Nritta to convey sombre melancholic feelings associated with body dysmorphia, but end on a note of hope. ‘Chinnanchiru Kiliye’ as Carnatic fusion music is by Mahesh Raghvan. This production starts with a group of school friends who are all smiles and laughter, taking pictures and generally having fun. But once they part ways and go home their smile fades away. Each of them feels trapped in a web of their own insecurities, their body image struggles, a darker world. Then its morning again and time for school. The friends meet up, but this time they reach out to one another about their struggles, hand hold each other as they all seek answers together. Poem: Pretty Ugly by Abdullah Shoaib I’m very ugly So don’t try to convince me that I am a very beautiful person Because at the end of the day I hate myself in every single way And I’m not going to lie to myself by saying There is beauty inside of me that matters So rest assured I will remind myself That I am a worthless, terrible person And nothing you say will make me believe I still deserve love Because no matter what I am not good enough to be loved And I am in no position to believe that Beauty does exist within me Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think Am I as ugly as people say? The artists can be reached at Teja Mohankumar   / teja.mohankumar     / tejamohankumar     / tejamohankumar   Chethana Yerramsetty   / devichethana     / chethana.devi.98   Chiinthu Sarvananthan   / chiinthusarvan     / chiinthu.sarvan      / @chiinthusarvan   Reshma Shajan   / reshma.shajan.7121     / reshma.shajan     / reshmashajan   Shwetha Subraya   / shwetha.subraya   To feature in an IndianRaga production, apply to be an IndianRaga Fellow at indianraga.com/fellowship IndianRaga brings together the best musicians and dancers across 60 international cities to collaborate on high quality music videos viewed by millions of people globally. The genres we work with are rooted in Indian classical performing arts and include Carnatic music (South Indian classical music), Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), semi-classical music, contemporary and fusion music, Indian classical dances including Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Mohiniattam, Kathak, and also ballet, tap, contemporary dance. Our productions also include a wide range of instruments including mridangam, tabla, sitar, violin, flute/bansuri, veena, ghatam, and new-age categories like music arrangement and production with EDM, Trap, Pop amongst others. Our most popular innovations include classical cover songs, a cappella, mashups and remixes of the latest viral pop hits in both western and Indian music. Anyone can apply to join our collaborations, and you can visit www.indianraga.com for more details and application process.