Yeh Ballet is a 2020 Hindi-language drama about two teenagers in Mumbai who pursue ballet despite prejudice and disapproval. Its story draws on real lives and teaching, but the feature is a fictionalized drama—not a documentary. The clearest biographical connection is dancer Manish Chauhan, whose journey and teacher Yehuda Maor inform the film.
What is Yeh Ballet about?
Netflix’s India listing describes two talented Mumbai teens who are discovered by a ballet master and face bigotry and disapproval as they pursue their dancing dreams. The film stars Julian Sands, Manish Chauhan and Achintya Bose, with Jim Sarbh, Danish Husain, Vijay Maurya, Heeba Shah and Kalyanee Mulay also listed in the cast. Netflix’s official listing identifies it as a 2020 Hindi-language drama.
The film’s premise makes ballet a meeting point between ambition and the social barriers the teenagers encounter. But its dramatic treatment should not be mistaken for a record of events: the feature fictionalizes the lives and experiences behind its story.
Who are the real people behind the story?
Manish Chauhan’s route to ballet
A Journeys in Film learning guide, published in December 2025, says Chauhan is from Mumbai and taught himself b-boying before studying ballet at Danceworx School under Yehuda Maor. The guide describes the 2020 film as a fictionalized version of Chauhan’s life and notes that he plays its lead.
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That account gives the film’s ballet journey a real-world point of connection without establishing that every character, event or plot development reflects Chauhan’s life. The available biographical detail is more limited for the second lead: the guide does not establish how closely Achintya Bose’s character maps onto a particular person.
Yehuda Maor, the teacher behind the ballet story
The same guide says Yeh Ballet dramatizes Maor’s arrival in India and his teaching there. It identifies him as a ballet teacher who had previously been a principal dancer. Julian Sands portrays Maor in the film.
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How does the drama relate to the earlier Yeh Ballet documentary?
The 2020 feature has an earlier counterpart with the same title. A May 2019 Harmony India profile describes Sooni Taraporevala’s Yeh Ballet as a 14-minute virtual-reality documentary made in 2016. According to that secondary-source account, it features two boys from Mumbai chawls who won scholarships to study ballet in the United States.
| Work | Format and date | What the cited source establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Yeh Ballet (feature) | Hindi-language drama; 2020 | Netflix describes two Mumbai teenagers pursuing ballet after a ballet master discovers them. |
| Yeh Ballet (earlier work) | Virtual-reality documentary; 14 minutes; 2016 | Harmony India’s May 2019 profile says it follows two boys from Mumbai chawls who won U.S. ballet-study scholarships. |
The shared title and subject link the works, but their formats and approaches differ: one is a drama, the other a short VR documentary as described by the profile. That account does not establish whether the documentary is currently available to watch.
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Where can you watch the feature, and what language options are listed?
Netflix’s India page currently lists Hindi original audio, Hindi audio description, and English and Hindi subtitles. Streaming catalogs and language options are market-specific and can change; check the listing for your location for current availability.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What did Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings say about the film?
During Netflix’s April 21, 2020 Q1 earnings call, co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings singled it out as a personal recommendation: “But an obscure little one is our Indian film Yeh Ballet, that’s just a great little film with some street dancers at Mumbai trying to make it into the world of ballet.” This was his comment on an investor call, not an independent review or evidence of the film’s broader reception. The statement appears in the Netflix Q1 2020 earnings-call transcript.
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