Sonali kurkarni's Interview

Enjoying Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa? It's fantastic.. wonderful. I can only talk in superlatives. I've always been a rather shy person, but I'm opening up. I'm enjoying being a student again.. takes me back to my col- lege days. Dance must be new for you.. Yeah, I've never danced in Bolly- wood or in international films. I didn't know what salsa or samba were. I didn't even know disco was a dance style! How's your chemistry with Toby, your choreographer? I quite like the guy. He's an amaz- ing trainer and partner.. his tol- erance level is great. (Laughs) He never puts me down during rehearsals. He won the title last season.. that's lucky for you? Of course! But the other chore- ographers too have wonderful ideas and are coming up with brilliant performances. But I'm the one who's blessed.. you can't deny that. Who's your biggest competitor? Toby. I have to match up to his steps. He's such an amazing dancer.. it's a treat to watch him perform. How hard is it picking up steps? Very. Today, I did the samba. Your hips are supposed to talk and your body has to bounce. It's a lot of hard work. I think act- ing's easier. Here, I'm sweating it out.. literally! How do you find the judges? They've been awesome. I like the fact that they're there to point out what's right and wrong in our performances. Their com- ments have helped me improve. What's been the reaction from the film industry? Several of them asked me why I was stepping down, when I took this up. I've never considered any medium to be below the oth- er. Many people didn't like me doing theatre or international cinema either. I got 100 missed calls after the first episode of Jhalak.. aired. My message memory is still full. What else is new? I have a few films lined up. I had to refuse a couple of offers because I wanted to concentrate on Jhalak.. I don't regret the decision. What about theatre? I recently started work on a new play Nako Re Baba. It's a chil- dren's play and (giggles) I play a second grader in it.