Malleswaram footpaths leave people dancing

BBMP may say ‘We are running aerobic classes in public places.”

BENGALURU: Bharatanatyam is an essential skill to walk on Malleswaram footpaths and that is what this satirical dance video made by a group of citizens, tries to portray. The clip starts with two pedestrians who come upon a broken footpath, filled with debris and broken slabs. They have to dance, jump and prance around in order to get through the uneven footpath without hurting themselves.

Made by Malleswaram Social, a citizen group, the video directed by Anushya Badrinath is the first of an upcoming series of seven to ten videos. It is a part of their ‘Footpath beku’ (we want footpath) campaign.
“There are two ways to highlight the issue. One, is to showcase the misery of walkers and the other is a light-hearted satirical take on the situation. The video makes one feel bad about the condition, shaming the authorities but in a sweet manner,” quipped Sriram Aravamudan, who sang, composed the music and conceptualized the video.

“We thought it would be cool to see a couple of dancers prancing around on the footpath. I used Carnatic music to go with it, along with playing the flute and mridangam, as that is what Malleswaram represents- tradition and old-fashioned way of life,” added Sriram. It took the team ten days to shoot and put out the video on facebook and youtube.

“ The aim is to reach out to the residents rather than authorities. While the local BBMP officials and MLA are ready to lay a new footpath on one level, it is the residents who want individual slopes in front of their homes, to get their vehicles out,” said Dhanush N, who was part of the production team.

Dhanush and the rest of the team were expecting views but were overwhelmed by the response online.
“All of us have had one or the other family member trip, injure or fracture their bones while walking on the footpath in Malleswaram. Senior citizens have a tough time maneuvering them,” Dhanush said, further adding,” Our next video will also have humour and sarcasm in it, with people trying to gym on the footpath.”

-Asha Krishnamurthy