Mahesh Dattani's 'Dance Like A Man' centres on an individual's plight, where a dying form of
art serves as the backdrop. A man stifled by his ageing father's principles, must find a way to escape, in order to create an alternative world that will enable him to practice the one thing that he loves the most - dancing. The son makes a mockery of his father's revolutionary acts. Calling himself a reformer, a freedom fighter, he ridicules the reforms that freedom fighters fought for. However, his father has different plans for his son. Taking advantage of his son's financial dependency on him, the father altogether stops his son's dancing classes. He wants his son to become an adult. In anger, the son leaves home, only to return, as he cannot support himself or his wife. This works marvellously for the father. He thinks of a new scheme. He smooth talks his daughter-in-law to discourage her husband from his passion and to criticize, albeit subtly, his mediocrity. The wife is overly ambitious, and she will sacrifice her husband's career for her career to take off.