The dance scene in ‘Never Have I Ever’ is a Hollywood milestone

Never Have I Ever episode 4 was full of firsts.

In the episode (Never Have I Ever: “…felt super Indian,” directed by Linda Mendoza and written by Mindy Kaling), Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and her family celebrate Ganesh Puja, in honor of the Hindu elephant god and remover of obstacles. 

They partake of a familiar tradition for Indian families across the United States: dressing up in Indian formalwear on a weekend and going to a local school that’s been rented out and decorated for the festival. The last time we saw anything close to this on TV was in another Mindy Kaling show, The Office‘s “Diwali” episode in 2006.

But where “Diwali” was a special episode about a secondary character, Never Have I Ever is all about the Vishwakumar family. Instead of cramming all the culture into this one episode, the show has the luxury of weaving it into every character and storyline so that episode 4 is natural progression — just with an upgraded wardrobe and a quick dance sequence.

The dance sequence lasts roughly 30 seconds, but its significance is monumental. The dancers are dressed in gorgeous, authentic Indian formalwear — not just the recognizable sari, but lehengas and cholis and other outfits that make more sense for dancing. There are beautiful, well-executed movements and mudras, or hand gestures — because Indian dance choreographs down to the finger movement and it’s painfully obvious when a dancer hasn’t put in the work. 

After American TV’s numerous embarrassing attempts to depict Indian dance, Never Have I Ever does so not only successfully, but respectfully. 

For starters, Kaling and Lang Fisher’s production team put in the effort, seeking out Indian dance choreographers in the Los Angeles area. They came across the work of Joya Kazi, a classically trained Indian dancer with years of industry experience.

“It was really refreshing, because it’s probably one of the first times where people just let go,” Kazi tells Mashable via phone. “They said, ‘You’re the expert. We will defer to you on all the decisions that have to do with making sure this is more appreciation than appropriation.'”

Bollywood is not a dance style, which is something Kazi stresses repeatedly. The designation came from Hindi-language Indian films made in Bombay: Bombay + Hollywood = Bollywood. The music and dance in those films evolved out of classical Indian traditions, and has since fused with styles from around the world. “Bollywood” dancing can skew toward hip hop, contemporary, Indian folk, Latin dance, or anything else, depending on whom you ask. But as it gained popularity in the West, Hollywood producers conflated actual Bollywood dancing with what they wanted to see.

“It could be they’re dictating this appropriated image of what Bollywood and Indian dance and culture is, and then a lot of times it’s made to be, ‘We just want it to be fun and energetic!'” Kazi says. “That’s that’s all I ever hear. ‘Fun, sequins, bright colors, happiness!'”

“Even if you’re not trained in Indian classical dance, have never walked into an Indian dance class, you can be a choreographer in Hollywood, producing Bollywood work.”

“That is what we want to depict, but over time what’s happened is that that kind of became the standard. And then it’s like, oh, any choreographer can do [that]…even if you’re not trained in Indian classical dance, have never walked into an Indian dance class, you can be a choreographer in Hollywood, producing Bollywood work.”

Kazi has frequently had to tell producers that something was inauthentic or inappropriate, often to no avail, but the Never Have I Ever team was all ears. She advised on choreography, music choice, and costuming, providing some of her own dance company’s pieces along with the designs of Salvador Peréz, a longtime collaborator of Kaling’s. 

She estimates she spent a month working on the production, including preliminary meetings, finding dancers, submitting sample choreography, and finalizing all of that and costumes with the production team, not to mention preparing to be on screen herself. On shoot day, she made sure the costumes were appropriately accessorized and that everything was properly pinned and pleated — a detail that can make or break an Indian outfit, on-screen or off.

Even the music choice illustrates more effort and intent than Indian culture usually gets on TV. Due to copyright issues, it can be difficult to get permission to use popular Bollywood music, which has led other shows to improvise. Fuller House used vaguely Indian-sounding instrumentals, while Smash opted for a painful original song by writers who have no background in any kind of Indian music.

Those choices stung worse because Kaling herself had already set precedent with “Diwali,” optioning no fewer than four popular Bollywood songs to play in the background throughout the episode. They may sound no different from sitar stock music to the uninitiated, but the uninitiated should not be the benchmark for whom this has to convince. Everyone knows the thrill of hearing a beloved song in a show or movie, and that feeling amplifies when the song is part of a culture you’ve long withheld from the spotlight.

“I’m very grateful to the choreographers that have come before us who have had to be the ones to go find the doors and literally break them down to get into the room to put Indian culture on television,” Kazi says. “I remember being in my dorm room and turning on So You Think You Can Dance and watching Bollywood — it was like I’ve spent my whole life almost having this secret life that no one understands, and now it’s on television.”

Never Have I Ever uses three Bollywood songs during “…felt super Indian”: a remix of “Dum Maaro Dum” after Devi gets dressed; “Nagada Sang Dhol” for the dance number; and “Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna” later in the episode (an old favorite that was also in “Diwali”). Kazi and the other dancers actually performed to “Nagada Sang Dhol” when filming, but used choreography that would work with other music and avoided lip-syncing, normally an essential in Bollywood.

Image: LARA SOLANKI / NETFLIX

Kazi has been dancing since she was four years old, and known she wanted to make a career out of it since attending a Bollywood concert at age 12. She trained in three major classical Indian dance styles (plus musical instruments), majored in choreography and theatre production, regularly drove or flew to workshops, auditions, and rehearsals, and has been a full-time dancer and choreographer for over a decade. 

Still, Kazi’s career path presented a conundrum in line with Hollywood’s own struggle to make space for South Asians and their art. She’s been cut from music videos that clearly wanted black or white dancers or had a quota for anyone else. Gigs that would have made perfect sense for her — like that entire list of attempted Bollywood numbers on American TV — fell into less qualified hands when Kazi’s name should have been at the top of the pile. She’s been representing herself for years because agents and managers love her work but simply do not know how or where to pitch it.

With Never Have I Ever, Kaling and team made authenticity look easy, with practices and attention that should become the new norm when Hollywood tackles South Asian representation. Kazi’s choreography and dancers are front and center in episode 4, and New York staple DJ Rekha hosted an Instagram live party to celebrate the show on Monday.

But perhaps the most skillful thing Never Have I Ever does is to turn the scene on its own head, presenting the dance not as a “crazy TV moment,” but something completely normal. It goes even further by having Devi scoff and observe out loud how “dorky” she thinks it is, only to be immediately shut down by the girl she’s talking to. But in the first take, Ramakrishnan couldn’t stop smiling, and many people on set applauded. That was enough to tell Kazi that they had done something right.

“If I get to do that, I’m very grateful,” Kazi says. “It’s a huge honor and it’s a huge blessing. It’s also a huge responsibility… But I think that American television will get to see something really beautiful, even if it’s just a few moments, something very beautiful and very authentic and real.”

Never Have I Ever is now streaming on Netflix.