Posted:
| Dance Drama |
| High voltage drama, surging emotions, peppy music, gyrating dance moves coupled with a loud mouthed dance director, a coy filmmaker and the Chhaiyya Chhaiyya girl for judges. Nach Balliye 2 has it all. Our correspondent visits the sets of tonight's special episode when the jodis go solo, but the action doesn't. It's still a collective force |
| Anurita Rathore |
| Those incessant tears on screen look not like pearls, but plastic beads rolling off the eyes. To you and I, who're relaxed and confined as viewers of reality shows in our TV room, watching those tears flow so easy seems too far-fetched. Even unreal, dramatic and hyper-sensitive. Wondering why Shweta Tiwari aka Prerna had to cry so much over her husband's absence (rather inability) at the Nach Baliye 2 set where the couple managed a come-back through the wild card entry? Well, even I did. For those of you who're wrapped in mystery still, let's remind you that Raja had to be hospitalised following some liver problem and hence his absence from the show. Although I cannot come to terms with justifying those ever-flowing, ready-to-pop-out tears, I must admit it's different when you're on the sets. Watching these star participants enthusiastically dance to old and new super hit tunes, then stand unshaken before the judges open their box of these-steps-were-innovative, how-did-you-go-blank-today or simply 'Superb' one-liners that almost seal their fate for that episode, does make you flow with the flow. You feel the passion of the dancer, you feel the pulse and rhythm, you also feel bad at the harsh comment from either of the judges, but all in all, you feel interested. That's how I felt at the Nach Balliye 2 sets when I saw the couples go solo for this week's show. So, it was Hiten without Gauri, Tina without Hussain and Shweta without Manav. It was about Tanaaz dancing and Bakhtyaar cheering her up with the crowds, about Gouri dancing and Yash biting his nails in the audience. For this week's show, the hit jodis come on stage minus their partners. Of course, it made for a versatile show, especially since each one is different when dancing alone as compared with what they do with their partners. But before the show begins and the shooting starts, we chat up with some of these couples and (formidable!) judges while they get their make-up done, touched up and then, re-done. Their clothes, most of which are bathed in sequence, lie around the place and each one's wondering how it will be dancing without their partner. Hiten peps up his wife by humming Aashiq Hoon Main, Kaatil Bhi Hoon...while Gauri (whose knees are "swollen owing to practice till 4 am") can just "feel butterflies within." Their choreographer Arvind Thakur's verdict: You guys are better off when dancing without each other." While Gauri's make up guy Ojas tries to hide her dark circles, Hiten complains: "We don't get quality time with each other but then, at least we end up seeing each other more than ever. That calls for an embrace, and the two hug and tell. We now get in to see what Tina and Hussain are up to. Hussain is No 1, which means he will mark the first entry for the day's episode. His demure wife, Tina, is feeling tense. "I'm doing the song Zinda Hoon Main... and Hussain's performing Sukhbir's Ishq... We both wanted to do the other's song! We've never danced together this way and now that this show is solo, we've been running to the other's practice hall to check on the progress," beams Tina while Hussain gets his make-up done. For Yash and Gouri, "dancing is boring without each other" but does the fear of being the ones to be cast out hound them every week? "Of course with passing time, one gets ambitious to win. I even fight with our choreographer Deepak Singh telling him "ki yeh step nahin chalega," and then insist we alter it. However, at the end of it, you've to treat it as a gameshow. Winning or losing, it doesn't last forever," reasons Gouri as Yash pitches in with a winking smile, "Please write good things about us!" Saroj Khan is busy studying her make-up, matching it with her green sari with peach sequins running across. Doesn't she feel open, harsh criticism could be a deterrant for an artist who's facing the audience in a reality show for the first time ever? "I prefer on-the-face criticism. If I think someone doesn't dance well, I mince no words and you will see that in a while. And then, whatever the comments may be, it's not like we are serious about them being bad forever," is her defence. Malaika seems more bent for the stuff she wears. A pretty picture for sure, she's sporting sis-in-law Seema Khan designed yellow sequinned sari and Maheep Kapoor jewellery. The hair rolls rest on her head and she gets ready for the show. Kunal Kohli won't judge or say anything in extremes because "big names are involved". "Be it the channel or the participants, our job is to be serious watchers and say only what holds true for the performance," he explains. Once on the sets, the wait begins. We see Sai and Shakti Anand trotting about the place, furiously rehearsing their lines and expressions. They are the hosts for this solo episode, after all. The judges fill in their seats and we await the lights-camera-action bit. One after another, the participant walks in to dance, their partners, each one sitting and cheering for them in the audience. As each one's dance comes to a close, the claps thunder louder. So when Gauri completes her Laila Laila La il La..., Hiten jumps up to run and hug his wife backstage as they see the points judges have to give. Shweta Kwatra is quite a disaster in Dil Cheez Kya Hai Aap Meri Jaan Lijiye and the judges don't hesitate in letting her know that "your choice of the song was wrong." Bakhtiyaar is super cool in Loveology but "too perfect" as the judges announce. Yash's Gouri blanks out while dancing to Jeeya Jale Jaan Jale and Saroj Khan lets her feel guilty about it. But when Tina dances to a dark number Zinda Hoon Main, the judges question her for her choice of song. But, it's surprise surprise! They congratulate her for her performance immediately next. And Hussain beams the loudest Yes! from the audience. Emotions run thick and fast. High drama, too. And Malaika confesses: "You cannot help feel it all. After all emotions cannot be hidden. And one does feel and get carried away by the moment. We're only human." Can't deny that. |
