In Dancing with Rani, an American father and his estranged daughter travel to India following the death of the mother. What begins as a trip of mourning soon transforms into a journey of healing, cultural immersion, and unexpected purpose. Drawn into the struggles of a rural Indian village— particularly the life of a spirited yet impoverished girl named Rani —they work against the odds to reopen a defunct village school, becoming part of a larger story of transformation.
Written and produced by Raj Pillai, Dancing with Rani is inspired by the book Disruptive Compassion by Hal Donaldson, which serves both as a narrative foundation and a spiritual guide within the film. We spoke with the film’s associate director, Pranabes Chandra, about the inspiration behind this cross-cultural story, its symbolic title, and the emotional resonance it carries in a post-pandemic world.
Surojit Chatterjee, Sudip Mukherjee and Srikanta Acharya attended a screening. Srikanta Acharya’s son, Purab Seal Acharya, has acted in the film.
The title Dancing with Rani feels symbolic. Can you share its significance and how it ties into the film’s core message of disruptive compassion?
Absolutely. The title is very intentional. “Rani” is not only the name of the little girl at the heart of the story, but she also symbolises the forgotten children, the overlooked communities, and the light that still flickers in neglected corners of the world. The word “dancing” implies movement, joy, and transformation — something the main characters go through as they engage with Rani’s world.
The concept of disruptive compassion, taken from the book, is central. It’s about stepping out of your comfort zone to make meaningful change, even if it’s messy or inconvenient. Emily, the young American girl in the film, reads Disruptive Compassion during her grieving process, and it sparks something within her. Selected quotes from the book appear at key moments in the narrative, guiding her toward her own awakening and purpose. It becomes a catalyst for her journey — from a grieving child to a revolutionary of compassion.
The story navigates grief, cultural immersion, and social impact through an American family’s journey to India. What inspired this cross-cultural narrative?
It’s very personal for me. I’ve been associated with the Rotary Club, which does a lot of philanthropic work in health and education. When I read Raj’s script, I immediately connected with it. It wasn’t just a story — it was a purpose. The idea of helping people on the margins, of building something meaningful from loss, spoke directly to me. And in a world where so many are still recovering from the pandemic — emotionally and socially — it felt timely and necessary.
The film features casting from both the US and India. What was that collaboration like, and how did it shape the final film?
It was a massive challenge, to be honest. Around 90 per cent of the film is set in India, with only about 10 per cent in the US, but the primary language is English. So we needed actors who could navigate that dynamic naturally.
We cast Maxwell Scott as the father, James Bradley, and Elizabeth Pillai as Emily. Both are from the US and had an existing friendship, which helped them create a believable father-daughter bond on screen. The rural Indian setting presented other challenges — language, food, and logistics— but we had an excellent support team, including a crew from SRFTI, and everything came together beautifully.
We shot in Ghatshila, Mumbai, and Washington D.C. The filmmaking styles of the East and West are quite different, and blending them took research and careful planning. But that’s also the beauty of this film — it reflects that cultural confluence both in story and in production.
The reopening of the school is a powerful metaphor. What were some of the production challenges involved?
We used an actual school building that had been shut down for years —run-down, damaged, neglected. We had to renovate it from scratch, make it functional and beautiful again, all within a tight timeline and budget. But that process mirrored the emotional journey of the characters: rebuilding something broken, breathing life into it again. It added a layer of realism that viewers have really responded to.
The emotional core of the film lies in the evolving bond between the father and the daughter. How did you approach that with the actors?
Both Maxwell and Elizabeth had a natural chemistry, but we still conducted intensive workshops. These helped them not only with performance but with tapping into the emotional reality of grief, cultural displacement, and healing. Since they knew each other beforehand, there was trust, and that really came through on camera. The majority of the film is in English, but some characters — especially from the Adivasi village — speak in Hindi. We wanted to stay authentic to the environment without losing accessibility.