Interview With Punit!

Punit: It was an experience to remember for sure, something that I will cherish all my life. There were moments – good and bad. I would only like to remember the good moments though.

Punit: I think the finalists – all four of us deserved to win and one of them was Shakti, so she obviously deserved to win. None of us were better or worse. It's just that whoever got more votes got the winners title.

Punit: Everybody who participated was excellent. Anybody doing any art form, I find them really cool, so everyone who participated, if you watched, had their own specialty: Saajan did B-boying, Shashank did ballet, Dharmesh had his own particular style, and so did Jack. Then there were people who were trained, there were people who were raw and there was a group of people who used to keep trying new stuff all the time. So I think I have just answered your question because more than the dancer, it was what they were doing that was my favorite, and everyone was trying to improve on their specialty. So everybody is my favorite.

Punit: Firstly, I would like to thank DID, because they promoted dance. The show was no-star attraction, but it was pure new talent, therefore now the responsibility is double. We dont have our films or any past work to back us up. Now we are known purely for our dancing talent and so I will be spreading the knowledge of dance to as many as I can. Wherever I go I will bring dance to peoples' life in my vicinity.

Punit: I dont know. I am a person who goes with the flow. So whatever comes in the flow, I have to make sure that I will give it my more than 100 percent. If an acting opportunity comes my way, then I will make sure that I give my 100 percent.

Punit: Remo Sir… he is known as the Gabbar of Sholay by his actions. (Laughs) This is because he is very strict and man with few words. So when I first interacted with him, I was like …okay he is strict and all that. But after I came in his team I interacted with him, he was very cool, very humble, very very intelligent. Once you talk to a man who has reached such heights you can come to know in one sentence only. He is obviously soft spoken, he speaks very few words, but when he speaks, he makes sure that everyone listens to him and that is a mark of a true person. Someone who has become so big. Remo Sir, obviously is an amazing choreographer commercially. A choreographer is known to be good or bad by the amount of famous signature steps created by him/her, and I think he has quite a big number of signature steps which are famous. Also, his first debut movie as a director which was a Bengali movie has got an international award and now he is doing his first commercial Hindi movie as a director. So I am sure he is a great man and I just wish him all the best. He has done a lot of things for me as far as DID is concerned. He showed a lot of trust in me and he called me the star of his team and he is such an amazing person.

Punit: I know Terence sir from last 4 years now as I have worked with him in his company (TLCDC). I was a part of the scholarship that his company offers. Initially, as I was I was disappointed not to be in Terence's team. But then I was like, "come on dude, this show is all about dancing, what does it matter whose team you are in. Just focus on dance and give your best." As the novelty wore off, the ice broke and I became comfortable with Remo Sir. Now Remo Sir is an important part of my life – i'ts an honor to have worked with him.

Punit: Bollywood….. Everyone is my favorite, but then we have Govinda with his own particular style. Right now there is Hrithik and Shahid. Regarding the females, I think all the female actors of Bollywood are amazing dancers compared to male actors. Whether its Deepika, Aishwarya, Priyanka…everyone has made sure that they have good dancing skills. In Hollywood – Catherine Zeta Jones. Basically work culture in Hollywood is totally different to that in Bollywood. Here in every movie you have to dance and dance well. Dance and music are an important part of Bollywood. In Hollywood if you have to sing and dance and act then that happens only in musicals. I respect Hollywood a lot because they are very focused and perfectionist in their profession. Even if I don't have any favorite, I am sure when a musical task comes and an actor is asked to perform in Hollywood, they will make sure they are dancing their best.

Punit: Bollywood is not a style in particular. Its a combination of many Indian and International styles. Dance moves from many dance forms are taken, wrapped and put in one single basket called BOLLWOOD. In Bollywood you will see hip hop, jazz, funk, Kathak, Rock and Roll, etc. Now a days even salsa is done in Bollywood. It is called Bollywood Salsa. In short Bollywood dance form is little bit of hip shaking, shimmies, exagerated drama and FUN, FUN, FUN!

Hip Hop has a lot of genres under it that people dont know about. DID made sure that it at least shows three sides of Hip hop genre: B-Boying, Popping and Locking. By this at least awareness is spread amongst the Indian audience about these forms… People still call B-boy moves stunts. Stunts are those which people do in circus or action movies and that has a different platform. So if you say b-boying moves are stunts, then you're incorrect. But gradually, things are getting better. Hopefully the quality of hip hop dance on DID will keep getting better and better with time. There are Indian dance forms in which other countries are way behind simply because they are still learning these forms. Likewise, India is way behind when it comes to hip hop as we are still learning these forms. However, with hard-work, we will get all these styles right and enjoy the beauty of dance.

Punit: Dancing is a physical activity obviously, but it is a stress buster. When people dance, they dance their hearts out, which is very important. There is no such labeling like, "you can dance, but you cannot." Everyone can dance even if it is to dance from your heart. So just play the music and I would say everyone, everywhere in the house, should keep dancing so that it's there not only in their body but also in their heart and soul. Dance is a combination of mind, body and soul. So I just believe that dancing is a universal thing like how salt can mix with everything. I think everyone can dance too.

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