Don't be ashamed of song and dance: Mani Ratnam

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: If the song and dance sequence was good, one should not be ashamed to use them in the movies, said renowned director Mani Ratnam, who refuted that the foriegn audience did not enjoy it.<br />"Song and dance sequences come as some kind of abstraction on the story line. If you feel bold about it, feel you can use it, go ahead and do so," the craftsman behind peppy song scenes like the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chayya Chayya</span> number of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dil Se</span> told reporters on Saturday.<br />Asked if the non-Indian audience would appreciate it, Mani, whose <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kannathil Muthamittal</span> (A Peck on the cheek) is being screened in the Indian Panorama section of International Film Festival of India, said "many of my films had gone to the international film festivals without songs being cut."<br />But one of the songs of his blockbuster <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Roja</span> will be cut when it goes for international release.The worldwide release of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Roja</span> is reflective of the attention paid to Indian films abroad, he said.<br />"Now there is an understanding of issues of this part of the world. People know about Kashmir and have begun listening to what we have been saying about terrorism for years," he said.<br />Asked if he would make a film on the Gujarat riots after movies based on the Mumbai riots and violence in Kashmir, he said "I only hope there is no more of it (violence)."<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kannathil Muthamittal</span>, which he said had been received reasonably well both in India and Sri Lanka, was about a Sri Lankan child adopted by Tamil parents, who traced her roots. </div> </div>