** Drashti's tweets & info corner ** Thread~1 - Page 10

It's not every day that you see a bahu from a conservative Indian household throw on a skimpy silver blouse and short skirt, replete with fringe and shimmer, and be tossed around by her partner to some upbeat music. But popular small-screen actors manage to do just that on dance shows, transforming from bahus to babes in one single leap. Take the winner of this season's Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Drashti Dhami, 28. After 16 gruelling weeks of juggling shoots and rehearsals, the Gujarati actor won the contest with a sensational performance to Rangeela Re from Rangeela, accompanied by powerpacked music, funky 3D visuals and the sizzling chemistry with her choreographer and partner, Salman Yusuff Khan. Week after week, she won the hearts of millions. It all ended in tears-of joy-on September 14, when she was awarded a gold-plated trophy and a cheque of Rs.50 lakh.

It wasn't easy. For six days a week, Dhami has to play the eponymous character in Madhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, that of a modest young ambitionless girl who has forcefully been married to a man who doesn't love her. Wrapped in heavy saris or elaborate ethnic outfits, she weeps in almost every frame. "In Madhubala, for the last two months I've only been crying. I finished my glystick in a month," she says. "This (Jhalak) was more me; I'm not a very salwar kameez person." On Madhubala, Dhami gets ready in 15 minutes; on Jhalak, it took at least one-and-a-half hours. "For Madhubala, it's the standard look, the same make-up, same hair," she says. The challenge of Jhalak added a new dimension to her routine, which she says was physically exhausting. At one point she contemplated quitting, when her dance rehearsals would begin after a 12-hour shift of shooting for Madhubala.

Emotionally too, she says Jhalak was a challenge. "TV, by the end of it, becomes routine and there's nothing new that you're doing there. In Jhalak, I've done different things, be it emotional or fun, a Bollywood-item or a Paso Doble." Dhami, who grew up in Mumbai, never wanted to be part of television. "I didn't want to do TV because I'm a very lazy person and TV is taxing," she says. The audition for her first show Dill Mill Gayye in 2007 was an accident, the result of having to wait for a friend. Ever since she started doing the show, Dhami wanted to be part of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. "I watched Jhalak when Karan Singh Grover was on because we were doing Dill Mill Gaye. I used to go for his rehearsals and once I stood under the spotlight, I was like, 'Oh, so this is what it feels like!'" Through Jhalak, Dhami claims she has given Madhubala a new identity: People now see her as Drashti Dhami and not just "Madhu".

"People say 'You're Bulbul from KHTV' but they don't know my real name," says Mehta, "Till Nach, they only knew me by my character name." The new avatars these women are taking on has found acceptance among audiences who understand the difference between the two genres and respect the realness of their beloved soap characters. Neelu Vaghela, 34, from Rajasthan, a huge sensation on Nach Baliye's previous season, plays the role of Bhabo in Diya Aur Baati Hum. She also acted in Rajasthani films like Ramgarh ki Ramli and Jai Karni Mata. "My fans must've thought since I'm Bhabo, I'll do a little bit of ghoomar (a Rajasthani folk dance), a little Bollywood and that's all. But I was doing different western dance numbers as well. The public attachment and love was huge." Vaghela claims she inspired female fans to take up dance classes. Dhami says fans of Madhubala have defended her when the tabloids went ballistic about her skimpy dance outfits.