SS Article

As was widely speculated, the 'jodi' of Sachin-Supriya brushed aside competition from the lucky 'jodi' of Manish-Poonam in the mega-finals of 'Nach Baliye' on Thursday night. The show ran for three and a half hours but that didn't deter the viewers from staying awake way past midnight to hear about the final announcement.

The show began with a combined performance by both the pairs where each of them 'challenged' the other in a scintillating 12 minutes performance. After getting a unanimous nod of approval from all the three judges - Saroj Khan, Malaika Arora and Saroj Khan - the pairs settled down to make way for TV viewers to send vote for them.

In the 2 hours that followed, there were clippings shown from the time of rehearsals to the earlier performances to footage from their real lives. Real fun begun after this when all the 8 eliminated 'jodi's returned on stage to perform once again that made for an electrifying atmosphere. All this while the suspense kept building up with every passing minute though Malaika gyrating to the tunes of 'Mahi Vey' and 'Kaal Dhamaal' made it worth the the wait.

There were also awards for the best female and male dancer from the 8 eliminated jodis that went to Sai and Varun Badola respectively. The magic moment finally came with the results ready to be announced. There was a pin drop silence as hosts Sangita Ghosh and Shabir Ahluwalia got ready to open the envelope containing the winners' name. Thankfully there were no more surprises [after last week's shock elimination of Raageshwari-Varun] with Sachin-Supriya being declared the winners.

It took some time for the feeling to sink in as there was hardly a reaction from the winning couple. But when the two were asked to comment on stage, there were emotions galore. Sachin said, "It was my wife's support that got me all the way till here. We have our 20th marriage anniversary on 21st December and this is a gift for her. Also our choreographers Al and Mel deserve a special mention as without them it would have been impossible to win here. If they were not there I am sure even we won't have been able to perform in such a manner. Also I want to tell Manish that he performed really well today. He has improved so much and while Ponam was anyways a good dancer, he has improved so much."

Equally vocal was Supriya who quipped - "Someone needs to give me a count before I start speaking. My last few weeks have all revolved around the count of 5, 6, 7, 8 that are used to make me dance to the steps. It has been 16 weeks and 10 episodes and all that has happened is shows and rehearsals. I want to talk about Manasi, my friend, who has given me all the spirit to come here and perform."

Finally the runners up Manish and Poonam were called for their comments. While Poonam seemed stable by the turn of events, Manish had a flow of emotions as he commented - "When I started this competition, there were a few people behind the camera who have been angels in my life and brought me closer to my dreams. They are my mom, my sister who supported me when I came down to Mumbai from Delhi, Ekta kapoor, who gave me my first break and fourth my wife Poonam who has given me everything. I told her that I have always participated in competitions to reach finals and win and I need her support for that. I have always dreamt of films and all this seems to be coming true through 'Nach Baliye'. My father had never wished me all the best till now as he feels that I am a pathetic dancer. This time I asked him to see my today's performance. Last but not the least - Mom I am sorry I couldn't win this!"

On this Poonam jumped in and said, "We are not losers as we have reached till here. Everyone asked us if we will win to which I said that we performed for 12 mins and gave our best. Rest everything is left to GOD. Not that by being the second best, I have lost faith. I still believe in GOD and want to thank Star One to have allowed us to participate in this mega show. Our choreographers Danny, Savio and Kunjan did a great job. I also want to recognize Varun and Raageshwari as they are extremely talented."

Such was the emotionally charged atmosphere that one could see even Saroj Khan and Malaika getting emotional and shedding a tear or two.

Second edition of Nach Baliye arrives in latter half of 2006.