’Nach Baliye 2’ finalists are raring to g

Mumbai, Dec 18 (IANS) As the finals of STAR One's dance competition show "Nach Baliye" takes place Monday night, the four finalists - Yash and Gauri Tonk and Hussain and Tina - are little nervous but oozing enthusiasm and are geared up to put up a grand show.

Gauri: Are we nervous? Of course we are! But more than that I can't remember a time when I wasn't fond of dancing. Of course, once I got married to Yash I gave up dancing and acting except a serial for Balaji.

After several years and a daughter I'm pleasantly surprised to be back in the limelight. That Yash and I have managed to get to the finals is surprising, what with his two left feet. I've always loved to dance. And now Yash also loves dancing.

Along with Hussain and Tina, we intend to put up a grand show at the finals. The 'rival' couple are actually our friends. To Yash and me family and friendship comes much before any competition.

We're here to have fun. And if Tina and Hussain win the finals, we're fine with it. Just the thought of sharing so many weeks on stage with my husband is enough for me.

Yash Tonk: There's a lot of excitement in the air. Let's see what the D-day has in store. We've put in a lot of hard work. And to have reached the finals... it gives me and my wife a good feeling. I'm not much of a dancer, never attended any classes. But I did dance casually at parties. It was my wife Gauri, who's a very good dancer.

When "Nach Baliye" happened for the first time she expressed a desire to be on it. I had promised her that if "Nach Baliye" returns and they invite us, we will definitely do it. I'm a shy guy. I love acting ... but not dancing. When they called me, I decided to surprise my wife.

I've enjoyed every moment of "Nach Baliye". I've followed my choreographers to my utmost. But once I get on stage, I just catch a rhythm and flow with it.

Hussain and Tina are a very sweet couple. They're our friends. They'll put up their best and we'll put up our best. For the finale we've to dance non-stop for 15 minutes. We won't have any concepts to follow, just hardcore dancing.

Has the show added to my popularity? Well, before "Nach Baliye" I was unknown. This is a new genre to me. It's an achievement because I never thought I'd ever be dancing on stage and to get this far. Thanks to my interactions with the judges I've overcome a lot of my shyness. But no, I don't think "Nach Baliye" will help me get roles. I've two films "Team" and "Kiss Se Pyar Karoon" ready for release. Also, I'm doing one daily "Kesar" for STAR.

I like doing one thing at a time. During the last four months I've been focusing only on "Nach Baliye". And the best thing about the show was I got to spend so much time with my wife. On the other hand, I miss my daughter Pari. She's only three-years-old and I didn't want her to come on the sets. Suppose my performance was below par on a day when my daughter was on the sets?

Tina: It feels great to have come so far. No matter what the outcome, we're happy. We never thought we'd make it to the finals. I'm very shy and not at all connected with showbiz. My mother warned me I wouldn't be able to pull it off. She felt Hussain, who's a good dancer, would be eliminated in the first round because of my bad dancing. But my husband was all for it.

Once I was in it, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. It's not as if I've two left feet. I do enjoy dancing. Even before "Nach Baliye" happened I kept telling him we should join classes. Now I won't let Hussain stop me or him from dancing. Everyone - my husband, my choreographer and the contestants - has pampered me throughout. That's what kept me going.

Initially I thought the judges would pamper me a bit more since I wasn't from within the industry. But I now realise everyone was judged on his or her individual merit. And that's good. We practised a week extra for the blindfolded dance, which everyone keeps talking about.

Even if I had been eliminated after the second round I'd been happy. Now that we've made it to the finals, we couldn't have hoped for a better marriage-anniversary gift. We complete one year of marriage on Dec 21.

Hussain: I don't have the energy to feel nervous about the finals. I'm exhausted. In fact, I can't say I was a non-dancer before "Nach Baliye". I used to dance in college, did many shows back then. For "Nach Baliye" we added a lot of innovative touches to the dancing to give us an edge.

My schedules have been killing. We give 4-6 hours every day to "Nach Baliye". But the practice has been worth our while. "Nach Baliye" has brought forward a different side to my personality. Shows like these encourage us to work harder.

Gauri and Yash are very good friends and excellent competitors. Their "Don" performance was outstanding. Our blindfold dance is something we're proud of. Even if we don't win, we're fine with that. But deep down in our heart we do want to emerge at the top.

The whole journey to the finale has been very revealing. The credit must go to our choreographers. I do want to learn different forms of dancing now.

--By Subhash K. Jha

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