| Makeover | ||
| A. L. Chougule e parties a lot and loves to dance his heart out. But dancing at parties is a different ball game altogether as compared to dancing in a reality dance competition. Though he had never learnt dance before, Jay Bhanushali - Neev of Kayamath fame - had no hesitation in accepting Sony's offer to take part in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. In fact, he took it as the best opportunity to learn dance and jumped on to the dance floor. Needless to say, after a little stiff and hesitant start, Jay has got into the groove and is doing pretty well for himself in the company of better dancers like Sandhya Mridul and Sudha Chandran. He has not set the stage on fire so far. But Jay has had a steady rise in his performances. "I was a bit stiff to begin with and got only 18 marks for my first performance. But I went on improving with each performance. From 18 marks I progressed to 22 and 24 and in the last two performances, judges gave me 25 marks which I think is not a bad show at all," says Jay who is quite happy with his journey in Jhalak... "It's good that I didn't begin with a bang because when you score a century right in the beginning you raise people's expectations. They expect fireworks from you and it becomes difficult to live up to high expectations week after week. That's what has happened to some of the contestants who began with a bang and later their performances dropped." Jay considers himself lucky that he has got Bindi Khare as his choreographer and partner. Bindi was Akaashdeep Sehgal's choreographer last year. "She is a powerhouse of talent and an excellent teacher. She knows how to train a non-dancer like me and having been on the show last year, she is aware of the dos and don'ts. Bindi is a task master and she makes you work very hard. Judges are happy with my performances because they have seen a lot of improvement in my dancing skills," he says. Jay is not worried about the competition from other contestants because he says he is not competing with others but his choreographer-partner Bindi. "Every contestant is good in his/her own way and they all are working hard to give their best. Of course, at the end of the day it's a competition and I have to compete with others to survive on the show. But my real competition is not with any of the contestants but my partner Bindi. If I can dance as well as Bindi and match her steps, I stand every chance to go till the last," he reason. If today Jay is confidence personified it was not the case two months ago. "There were too many ifs and buts. Jhalak... is a difficult show with all those difficult elements of Samba, Salsa, Jive and Cha Cha Cha movements. Doing the lifts and getting body posture right is very difficult. I had lots of doubts but I was willing to give it a try," he recalls. But giving it a try wasn't easy when he was working for a daily soap simultaneously which required him to work from 9 am to 9 pm. "It was tough doing a 12-hour shift for Kayamath and then rehearsing for Jhalak... from 11 pm to 3 am. It was really hectic and I had to sacrifice my sleep. But I didn't mind going through the grind because I didn't want to do anything half-heartedly. Thankfully, now the pressure has eased out as I have been given a break from Kayamath to concentrate completely on Jhalak...," he says with a wide smile. If Kayamath made him popular as Neev, Jay says Jhalak... has made him popular by his real name. And going by his popularity among the younger members of the fair sex, it seems for sure that Jay's journey on Jhalak... may last longer than he had expected. |
"I am popular among kids and college students. They have liked my work in Kayamath and seem to be appreciating my performance in Jhalak... too. But I really don't know how far I am going to go. Pleasing viewers is one thing but making judges happy is another," he adds. But Jay should be happy that there is one judge who is apparently lenient with Balaji actors. "No, no…Jeetuji is not lenient with anyone and doesn't give marks so easily," he says. Talking about his debut show Kayamath Jay says it's been a wonderful experience. Having been a model before he turned actor, he wasn't new to camera. "But there is a lot of difference between doing a commercial and working in a serial on a daily basis," he adds.
He is also of the view that looks do matter but it is largely talent that makes you a star. "It is not easy to be star. It's lot of hard work. You got to be good day after day," he feels. He will be back in Kayamath whenever he is done with Jhalak.... Jay says his return in the show will have Neev in a different look and image. May be Neev needs a makeover after rocking on the dance floor?
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