And the winner is..
Celebrity dance shows are the flavour of the season but choreographers have little reason to celebrate
By Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi
HEROES and heroines have danced to their tune on the big screen for years. Now, it is the turn of small screen stars and other celebrities to match steps with them in TV dance contests. But while the celebrities waltz their way to further fame, their choreographers continue to remain in the shadows. That might hurt, but what stings even more is the treatment the dance teachers get from the judges of the contests. THE UNDERDOGS "These are definitely star oriented shows," says Arvind Thakur, a choreographer who is training TV stars Gauri and Hiten Tejwani for Nach Baliye 2 (Star One). "And we have to accept the fact that a star will always remain a star. He will always be given priority over a choreographer. But that doesn't diminish us. After all, everyone knows that if a couple or a star is dancing on stage, it is because of our training." But if the stars walk away with all the accolades when they dance well, it is the choreographers who face the flak when they don't. "Yes, it is terrible," agrees choreographer Pinky Chinnoy who, along with her partner , Rajeev Khinchi, was ousted in the sixth episode of Nach Baliye 2 after their celebrity jodi Arjun and Gurdip failed to impress the judges. "Specially when the judge squarely blames the choreographer. I remember one of the jodis on Nach Baliye 2 was told by Saroj Khan that they were not dancing well but the fault lay not with them but with their choreographer. What people don't understand is that it is not a cakewalk to make a perfect dancer out of someone who has never danced in his life, and that too, in just one month's time." ALL THAT SWEAT Often, it is not just about teaching someone how to dance. Points out Toby Fernandes, Mona Singh's choreographer, winner of Jhalak Dikhla Ja (Sony), "It is also about building a rapport with your partner or jodi. Time is short but then that's what proves your mettle as a teacher. You have to finally take the responsibility . If your partner loses, it is your fault. When I first met Mona, she not only did not know how to dance, she was also fat and unfit. We did not do any dancing for the first two weeks and simply concentrated on her exercise routine. We lost crucial time but I knew that unless she was fit, no performance would look good. It was my responsibility to present her properly and thankfully I got the results," he reminisces.
Sagar Mhadolkar, who is the choreographer for Raja and Shweta Tiwari in Nach Baliye 2 also agrees that it is the choreographer's duty to get the best out of his pupils. "Shweta thankfully is a good dancer but my challenge is getting Raja to match her. He has no rhythm, no expression, no beat. We work and practice for almost 12-13 hours a day We . change the songs and choreography if we don't get results. Today if the two of them are still in the race, I feel I have played a major role."
STAR STRUCK
What about the stars? How cooperative are they? Sonia Jaffar, the choreographer for film director Mahesh Manjrekar in Jhalak Dikhla Ja, says that he listened to her unconditionally "I never had any problems with . him," she reveals. "He knew nothing about dancing, he had stiff body language. But he understood that. He had confidence in my teaching and didn't ever question me. He would come regularly for rehearsals and give it his all," she says.
But TV actress Shweta Salve's dance teacher Longinus Fernandes in Jhalak Dikhla Ja says they did have disagreements. "I think it was bound to happen," he says wryly . "Shweta is nearly 20 years younger than me. My choreography had disco steps, a dance genre that was popular before she was born. She also had her own interpretations of songs and dance sequences. But I told her that I knew my job, so she had better listen to me. And she did just that. We both were open to suggestions and did what looked best," he says. Probably the toughest part about being a choreographer in a dance contest is taking criticism – specially if it is blunt or perceived as unfair – from the judges. "Harsh words are always difficult to take," says Longinus. "But then, if you have authorised somebody to judge your talent, you had better accept it." But he agrees that the show isn't free of biases either. He believes that Mona Singh won in Jhalak Dikhla Ja because of her popularity as Jassi. "The Indian public is very emotional. When they saw Mona on stage, they saw Jassi, the underdog, in her. And they went all out in her support. Mona and Toby won the contest but it wasn't that they were the best," he says. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Judges are also often accused by choreographers of being ignorant and biased. "A lot of things are unfair. Whether it is the points or the public voting or just a stray comment," says Sonia. "When Mahesh and I got out after the semi-finals, everybody in , cluding the judges, agreed that it wasn't the right decision. There were times when I myself felt that we had not performed well but we still got high marks. We knew the judges liked us and personal liking does make a difference." Rajeev Khinchi of Nach Baliye 2 lambasts two of the three judges on his show. "Saroj Khan and Kunal Kohli were very biased. While Kunal has no clue about dance, Sarojji always promotes her personal favourites. I have worked for 13 years and I have worked with big names. And after all the performances in Nach Baliye 2, everybody, including the channel people, agreed that our jodi, Arjun and Gurdip, had underscored. Sarojji would make nasty comments and even if our jodi said that they had made a mistake, she would insist that the choreography was bad. Both Kunal and Sarojji were rude and unethical. Malaika was the only saving grace." His partner Pinky agrees. She says the judges don't judge your talent but what you say on stage. If you are undiplomatic, you might get penalised. "We are supposed to simply shut up and take everything, even if it is wrong. What does Kunal Kohli know about dancing? Anybody who saw him dancing in one of the episodes will know that he has no rhythm himself. Each choreographer will interpret a song in his/her own way But Sarojji does not . want to accept anybody else's interpretation. I remember when we did Bidi jalayle from Omkaara, she told me, 'You have not choreographed it well, it doesn't have that rural crassness to it. So I won't give you marks.' But I felt that the song had complete Western music. For me, it was more raunchy than crass. When I said so, she got annoyed," she says. PERFECT PLATFORM Despite all the allegations, however, most choreographers do admit that dance contests like Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dikhla Ja pro vide a great platform for their talent. "People have started to recognise us on the streets. Now producers and directors have become far more accessible and offers have started coming in. We didn't win the final but the show has proved to be a boon," says Sonia.At the same time, choreographers add that one show cannot chart a future. "Yes I won the contest but I can't rest on those laurels. Unless I keep proving myself time and again, things will not work out for a life time," sighs Toby .
Saroj Khan 'Today's choreographers have a more comfortable life compared to what we had. They now have great platforms like reality TV shows where the world sees them. We had to make endless rounds of producers' offices to get work. These dancers don't need to do that.
Judging the best among the talented is tough but not impossible. Your tal ent shows through your work. Some choreographers can't even get the best of dancers to perform. Gurdip and Arjun are great dancers, but their dance teachers never gave them steps they could carry off or which looked good. Sad they had to go. We can't be biased even if we like the stars. If there is no talent, we have to ask them to go.'
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