SS hurt and shocked

By Subhash K Jha

Now that she's lost the top spot on the popular dance Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, Shveta Salve seems to be inviting a lot of ire as she goes higher.

In a recent story fellow-contestant Pooja Bedi is reported as saying the other finalist Mona Singh deserves to win because she's a better humanbeing.

Shveta is genuinely hurt. "I've been very nice to all the contestants. If some of them got eliminated, is it my fault? I don't know why Pooja Bedi should make such a comment. I didn't know her before the show.And she was there for a very brief time on the show. I've nothing against Pooja.

Honestly it's hard to believe Pooja or Rati Agnihotriji would speak that way about me. I don't know them. I became very close to Ajay Jadeja and Mahesh Manjrekar during the show. They know me so they can comment. But others??? I'm a little shocked. But it's okay….Everyone is entitled to an opinion."

Shveta breaks down. "I don't know why I've to keep proving myself. I don't know why I'm being subjected to all this filmi-giri. I'm a simple honest Marathi girl. Why was everyone against me?

Such negative and untrue writing about me reallyaffected me when I was just one step away from winning. They pitched me against the other finalist Mona Singh, as if we were children."

Another accusation being hurled at Shveta is that she was a trained dancer and therefore not qualified to be on Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa.

She sighs and sobs, "Is it my fault if I dance well? Was I supposed to under-dance just to prove I'm untrained? Even (judge) Mr Sanjay Bhansali said that my kind of dancing can't be cultivated. One is born with it. Just because I dance well, it doesn't mean I'm trained.

I've done nothing to become a good dancer. As you know people in Maharashtrian families do put their kids in dancing or singing classes. At at age of 6, my mother also put me in a Kathak class. That's it. After that I've never attended dancing classes in my life."

She sighs heavily and argues, "Jhalak Dikkhlaa Jaa is a BBC show. Do you think such a prestigious channel or Sony Entertainment would risk theit reputation by allowing a contestant to break a rule? Why would they allow me to get away with such duplicity?"

Shveta is now apprehensive of the future. "I've worked so hard with my choreographer Longi for three months. They wrote that I didn't want to part with two lakh rupees of the purported prize money for Longi. Am I such a petty person?

Twenty percent of the prize money goes to the choreographer. Longi and I knew each other from before. But after this show, Longi, his wife Shabana and I have become like family. I know what Longi has done for me. And how much he means to me."

As for Shveta's fellow-finalist Mona… "I've no issues with Mona, absolutely none! We worked together in Jassi. We were absolutely fine with one another. And now we worked together again in Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa. It was a very professional relationship.

There was no point in trying to pitch us against each other. We're not kids to squabble. In fact I admire Mona for the headway she has made in such a short span of time. I haven't been able to make the same progress in 6-7 years on television."