To move Bharatanatyam from the traditional confines into more contemporary areas, is a desire shared by many practitioners of the artform. Nirali Samani (disciple of Sheejith Krishna) ventures into these waters with her solo production Me and I. A shorter version of Me and I was premiered at Bharata Kalanjalis’s Jharna Edition 4 and the full-length version was performed at Sahrdaya Creative Spaces on 7 December 2025.

Me and I is a production that delves into the workings of the human mind. Life often brings situations where one bows to societal pressures and drifts away from the authentic self, experiencing severe inner turmoil. Nirali churns this concept and personifies two states of mind - ‘Me’ and ‘I’ - who are at loggerheads. This remotely resembles the personification of emotions in the animated movie, Inside Out. ‘Me’ and ‘I’ converse, revealing their struggles and attempt to break the status-quo. The inner turmoil descends into utter chaos and a full-blown existential crisis. How the crisis is tackled and authenticity and joy get restored forms the rest of this production.

Nirali stays true to the Bharatanatyam’s grammar uses apt choreographic imagination that holds a charm of its own. While the production plays out mostly in English through short verses written by Nirali and musical notes, Hindi appears in a small segment (Sahir Ludhiyanvi’s song ‘man re’). This switch to lyrical Hindi from the abstract swaram patterns caused slight disharmonious to the ears. While depicting existential crisis, Nirali portrayed vulnerability of anxiety and despair within. The intensity of the bhavas evoked rasa and made the abstract real. Music by Charu Hariharan complemented the situations in the production. The lighting (Sneha Sheejith) was precise and enhanced the story telling.

‘Me and I’ is not just an episode from a dancer’s life, but is more universal. The production is abstract, yet lucid enough to resonate with many.