Pooja ousted from Jhalak-Article

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Shruti

@shruti

Alumni

+ 9

Posted: 18 years ago

Pooja ousted from Jhalak
By: Shaheen Parkar
September 14, 2006

Pooja Bedi with Hanif Hilal

Pooja Bedi, the first contestant to face the axe from the Sony reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, is a die-hard optimist. "It is only a show after all. Every week some one will be out. Everyone has been asking me: how come it was you? I tell them at least I have the honour of being the first. What a way to get out; everyone is talking about you."

Though Pooja may laugh and joke about how she is always the first to do things, onlookers blame her actor-choreographer Hanif Hilal for her exit.

Overconfident

Says an onlooker, "He was overconfident about his choreography and dancing skills. He was on his own trip. Hanif did not want any interference from the choreographers appointed by the channel to oversee and guide the rehearsals. In fact, none of these people attended Pooja's rehearsals.

They had stopped checking on Pooja over two weeks ago. Initially, they did give Hanif their inputs but he had sent a message through other people that he did not like their presence at the rehearsals."

However, Hanif denies the allegations saying that the appointed choreographers were overseeing the rehearsals. "This is just a perception people have. I am a trained Latin American dancer. In Jhalak, they wanted us to Bollywoodise the steps, but I was more in favour of Latin American steps," says Hanif who has his own dance troupe called Flames. He is still training under a UK-based dancer Marin Lane.

Shocked

"I was shocked by the result," says Hanif. "I know that it is all part of the game and that every week, someone will be out. But I did not expect our exit in the first round itself. There was lots more for Pooja.

Everyone was in tears except for the two of us. But even after the camera was switched off, Pooja took it very well. This is not a blaming game; so there was no finger-pointing. We did our best but eventually it is up to the judges and the viewers," says Hanif who is also the second runner-up of this year's Grasim Mr India.

Another allegation against Hanif is that he wore silver trousers when in Latin American dance form the dress code is normally black pants — something what the other male choreographers stuck to.

"The show is not to showcase the choreographer. He is good at his dance anyway — it is to focus the contestant. Hanif's silver trousers were a tad jarring when it came to the overall presentation," says the onlooker. But Hanif points out that his outfit was designed by the channel's appointed stylists for the show.

Adds the onlooker, "In Latin American dancing, when a couple dances it is looking at a flower. The woman is the flower and the man the stem. The beauty of the dance comes from the movements of the flower —the woman. Pooja was a true flower but with a wrong stem."

'I will miss her hugs'

Sandeep Soparrkar, technical director, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, on Pooja Bedi's exit…

"Pooja Bedi danced extremely well. She had worked really hard on the technical moves and it showed in her steps. I really appreciate that. She was very elegant ceful. I was really sad to see Pooja go. Hats off to her as she took her exit very gracefully and she was cheerful till the very end. I will miss her hugs and giggles. She is such a warm person. Pooja was extremely elegant in her moves as well as her dress sense — whatever she wore really suited her. But I guess it was just not her night."

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Tasneem

@lovelyprincesst

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

wow...
thnx for sharing

well i think it wasnt her performance wch was the reason for her coming out first but it was the lack of her fan followers which made her go in the first place.

comments are welcome

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sofia

@sofia83

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

awww i thought she was much better than Jassi!!! oh god this show is going to be ridiculous i can tell you that all ready!

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@mermaid_QT

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

she should have stayed. i can pick two or three worse performers for sure, but again, i don;t want to hurt feelings here. i also feel that judges gave her too few numbers. lets ee who leaves next.

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tina

@tina59

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 18 years ago

yeah she wasnt part of any particualr industry and that hampered her chances coz if u belong to one industry then u would have some fans who like ur work in that industry and would vote for them.But in pooja's case she was totally in bollwood and she wasnt totally in tv nor was she totally in any other field

but she was good and she took her ouster gracefully and sportingly and thats what matters that she tried her best

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Huzaifa Kaderbhai

@kothra

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

i wanted pooja bedi to stay
may b it was not her day

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shivi18

@shivi18

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

Originally posted by: lovelyprincesst
wow...
thnx for sharing

well i think it wasnt her performance wch was the reason for her coming out first but it was the lack of her fan followers which made her go in the first place.

comments are welcome

thats wht i also think..... she had lack of fan followers... thats why she probabaly had the lowest votes.

if people voted according to her dancing moves then she shouldnt have been out. i guess she was one of the best female dances on JD..