I've maintained myself well: Talat Aziz

It's unusual for a 55-year-old to groove on a dance floor, but Talat Aziz is ready for the challenge. The ghazal singer says he's fit enough to wear his dancing shoes for reality show "Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5" at his age.

"I recently checked my weight. I have lost three kgs in one week. I have maintained myself all these years. I used to work out, but dance is making me more fit," Aziz told IANS.

Talat, whose first album titled "Jagjit Singh presents Talat Aziz" was released in 1979, says initially he wasn't very forthcoming about the offer.

"When I was asked to be on this show, I first said no. I said, 'I am not a dancer, I can't dance, and this is not my field.' But my friend Raj Nayak (CEO, Colors) said that's just the point - getting celebrities from different fields, who can't dance to come and learn dance. I was travelling for a concert when I received an official mail from the channel and I accepted it.

"When I returned, I thought about it and wondered.. 'What did I just do!' But really, I feel I have taken a challenge for myself and not for the world. I am at a stage in my career where I don't need to do this...to dance or to be in reality shows to prove myself. I am doing it as a challenge to myself - that I can do this, and not make a fool of myself," he said.

On the show, he is competing with actors like Gurmeet Choudhary, Giaa Manek, Pratyusha Banerjee, Darsheel Safary, Jayati Bhatia, Ravi Kishan and Isha Sharvani, anchors Archana Vijaya and Shibani Dhandekar, comedian Bharti Singh, "Kaun Banega Crorepati" fame Sushil Kumar and Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya.

He says dancing at parties is different from doing choreographed sequence.

"As an artist, any art form needs a modicum of proficiency. Everyone can do a party dance if they have a sense of rhythm. But when you dance to a choreographed movement, it is a completely different ball game. There's a partner with you, you have to remember steps and the co-ordination and do it well," said the singer, who says he has been busy performing around the world.