'I was hesitant..' Narayani Shastri

Actor Narayani Shastri, who is an agile dancer had initially refused to participate in 'Nach Baliye 2' (Star One). And it was not because she was apprehensive about matching steps but rather exposing her relationship with 'good friend' Gaurav Chopraa. "I am a very private person and get paranoid about exposing my personal life in a reality show. I was hesitant to expose my relationship in public," Narayani explains. "But the motivation of dancing was stronger than the limitations. So after second thoughts, I finally relented," confides the sultry actor who also played a bar dancer in Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Chandni Bar'.

Why was the former 'Piya Ka Ghar' actor declaring herself and Gaurav as the 'Jodi No 1' even before the 'Nach Baliye-2' contest had begun? "The channel had a rotating roulette for allocating numbers to each couple. This rotated twice and stopped at No 1 where Gaurav and I were standing. It's basically for the sake of convenience," clarifies Narayani.

Was she ready to take on the tough competition from other couples? "I don't believe in any competition. For me dancing is a stress-buster. And I am here to explore my dance potential. Incidentally, both Gaurav and I have a different style of dancing. So the challenge will be to synchronize our steps," explains Narayani, snuggling up to Gaurav. Incidentally, Gaurav has recently made a dramatic entry as casanova Samay in the show 'Aisa Des Hai Mera' (Sony). He enthuses, "For me dancing is religion. I have gyrated to 16 Bollywood numbers in just two hours during shows abroad." He continues, "It's so exciting that Narayani and I are being paid to do what we enjoy doing. It's the spirit of participation that matters to me and not whether we win or lose," chuckles Gaurav.