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On a Tuesday evening, while I was waiting outside Hollywood Hall at Andheri West with my team, Zara Nachke Dikha contestants were rehearsing inside for their next episode. I succumbed to my curiosity, peeped in through the door which was left ajar and got a glimpse of Aamir Ali, Abhishek and Karan rehearsing some complicated dance moves. They were helping each other, giving corrections and feedback. Seems like girls are going to have a difficult time in the coming episode. The boys have teamed up well and are working collectively towards a common goal. Siddhesh appeared from nowhere and caught me off guard.
Do you have voyeuristic tendencies? asked Siddhesh jokingly.
I was just a little curious, you know. I looked as if I had just seen a ghost.
Chill! I am kidding. Its okay, in fact you should be waiting inside. Why are you melting in this weather? Lets go in! said Siddhesh.
I followed him inside with my camera man Deepak and Aarti, my colleague. As we went inside the other contestants were polite enough to give us our space by going outside or by resting in the changing room.
Guys pull up a chair and take a seat please, offered Siddhesh.
Dressed in a flower print white shirt and grey jeans with his spectacles on, he looked dapper.
We are ready when you are, I said.
Okay, shoot, said Siddhesh.
INTERVIEWER : How was your Dance India Dance experience?
SIDDESH: My DID experience was very good. I met a lot of people and I got an opportunity to experiment with different styles of dancing. I was always a part of this industry and I knew a bunch of influential people already. But I met a lot of new talent here, we worked together and I learnt a lot from them. This was an ideal platform for me to showcase my talent. However, I could not do a lot of things which I wanted to do on DID. This is because there were a lot of creative restrictions and interference. Geeta Kapur also could not do many things although she wanted to experiment a lot, but her seniors didn't allow her to do it. This is the main problem in our country that people dont want to experiment with novel ideas at all. This was indeed a learning experience for me. Now when I will handle my future projects I can keep these things in mind and act accordingly.
INTERVIEWER: How did your life change after DID?
SIDDESH: It changed a lot. In fact I would say that this was the turning point of my life. People have started recognizing me. Not just that, but now people have realized the struggle and the hard work being put up by the background dancers as well. Each and every person on this earth has to struggle. But when you talk about the background dancers, each one has a different story. Someone wants to become a director, producer, creative head, choreographer or an actor. People call me up and tell me that now they have started noticing the background dancers more. They have started realizing that background dancers are infact very good at dancing. This is what I always wanted, that people do realize the importance of the background dancers and I am so happy that after DID people have realized that.
INTERVIEWER What were you doing during this gap between DID and Zara Nach ke Dikha?
SIDDESH: Post DID, I was in stress for almost two months. I kept thinking what went wrong. Secondly, my body had gone through hell during the five and a half months of the show. I have somehow managed to recover and get my body in shape again. Thirdly, I met my friends, spent quality time with my family and also met my fans who supported me throughout my journey of DID. Then I assisted choreographer Mini during DPL for three months. I did a show with Star Plus which was Diwali Dhamaka and ITA awards and performed in a few shows in India and abroad. Then I got the news that a reality show is coming up. So I started preparing for the same. I did a lot of research and now I have also written four scripts. I have to get these scripts registered now. I want to make movies. And then I got a call from Zara Nach ke Dikha to participate in the show. So that's it... I have spent my time well.
INTERVIEWER: Tell us about your struggle before DID.
SIDDESH: I have been doing stage shows from the age of three. Whether it was a Mitra Mandal Show or any show in a village, I performed in each one of them. I traveled by trains, buses,etc. My parents have also struggled alongwith me. I started earning with Rs. 25. however, my expenses would go up to Rs. 100. I have even slept on the railway platforms when need be. Even my parents have done that with me. I used to travel to school then go back for rehearsals after school and perform in the shows. I would study in the train while travelling. People always thought that because I was a professional dancer I am a good dancer. But not many people know that I became a professional dancer only for my bread and butter. If my father had more money, probably, he would have been Rakesh Roshan and I would have been Hrithik Roshan (laughs). I have decided I will never dance behind anyone, I will never be a background dancer ever. Not that its wrong be a background dancer. I didnt become a professional dancer out of choice. Dance was a medium for me to get in to Bollywood Film industry. But when I became one, I always aimed at working with each and every choreographer in this industry. The reason behind that was, I always wanted to become an actor, so in future when I work with these choreographers they understand me well, they understand my dancing skill and we are able to gel properly. I have worked with almost all the choreographers that I wanted to but unfortunately I could not work with Remo D'souza and Vaibhavi Merchant. But look at my destiny, when I participated in DID, Remo D'souza was a mentor but of an opposite team and today Vaibhavi Merchant is on Zara Nach ke Dikha, but as a judge. But I definitely want to work with them in a show. I had auditioned for a show with Vaibhavi Merchant. I was selected thrice but always rejected in the final round of audition for unknown reasons. This industry operates in a funny way. If you are a good dancer then you will not selected because then you might became a threat to another person. Especially the assistants of big choreographer play these dirty games. They are very insecure. So a talent is expelled even before he is explored. When I was rejected in the MOB show, I was given reasons like ' you stay very far, you don't have a great body, you are dark, etc' so I have struggled, but just because today people have seen me in DID know that I have struggled in life. There are a lot of people whose struggle goes simply unnoticed. That's life'
(He got so emotional that before he could start crying I quickly changed the topic and directed the conversation towards the lighter side.)
INTERVIEWER: What are your plans after Zara Nach ke Dikha? (I gave a huge smile, which not only made me look stupid but also cramped by jaws)
SIDDESH: Firstly, I will take a good break of 20 ' 25 days. Yeah, there are offers of two to three shows as an artiste which are yet to be locked / finalized with Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik. Then I want to go to Tollywood. I want to do two films in Tollywood. The talks are on. Hopefully things should work. Once that happens then I will get some money. Then I want to work on my scripts. I may assist someone or I may act, let's see or I may simply get someone else to act in the films written by me. I would like to do one or more reality shows. So hopefully things work the way I have planned. I have my fingers crossed.
INTERVIEWER: Who is your favorite dancer and choreographer?
SIDDESH: I follow Govinda a lot. I love his style of dancing. He is very quick. But I don't want to be like Govinda ' having one particular style and a choreographer (Ganesh Acharya). I want to work with all the choreographers. I don't have favorite choreographers. I have more of favorite assistant choreographers.
INTERVIEWER: Does Geeta Kapur recommend you to other? Do you have her support?
SIDDESH: Geeta Kapur has always supported me, but I never asked for her recommendation. The time has not come where I need to go to her and ask for her recommendations. She is also confident that I can get the work on my merit. She had called me to assist her during DID 2. I assisted her in choreographing two acts for Dharmesh and Binny. I am a part of her team so I don't think that I need to go to her and ask her for her help, but I am sure that if I ask her for the same, she will give me her full support.
INTERVIEWER: How important it is to have a God father in this industry?
SIDDESH: It is indeed very important to have one. I don't have a specific Godfather in this industry. But I have learnt a lot from a lot of people. If you ask me about this show, I would mention Harshal and Vitthal, Karan Kundra. I was very small and I would perform in orchestras, there was a percussionist by the name of Satish Dada, he taught me a lot of things about life. But someone who really taught me what I should do in this industry is Jimmy Moses. But I don't have a specific Godfather who has brought me in this industry.
INTERVIEWER: Your critics and media find you very arrogant on screen. Is that intentional?
SIDDESH: There are a lot of celebrities who show their fake faces in front of the audience. Their public facade is different from what they are in real life. They present themselves as very sweet and lovable people on screen which they are not. Having said that, there are exceptions. But when people speak the truth or fight for the right thing then they are labeled as being arrogant. If things are sorted or accepted in a better manner, why would any one want to fight. I don't want to cheat my fans by being very sweet on screen and then something else off screen. I will be the way I am whether on screen or off screen. When I told Remo Sir the difference between Locking and Poping it ended up with an argument and a lot of negativity crept in. This was sorted out off screen and we both were in good terms with each other. But the media just showed the narrow picture of the whole story. The problem was that he was a Master of an opposite team, and he was defending his team member. I knew that the contestant was wrong in his technique, Remo Sir was wrong and Mithunda who didnt know what locking and poping was, was also wrong. I said what I felt. This is a dance style from abroad, we have to be more careful about the technique. My point was very simple, don't call someone the Prince of Locking-Poping without any reason. If he is correct in his technique, I have no issues. But when I spoke the truth, it was not taken well and I was asked to say sorry to both. Even when we had to make vote appeals, I was specially asked to be very sweet, but I could never do that. I cannot pretend. So if being the way you are means arrogance, I can't help it. But its just that I always present myself the way I am. Here, honesty is been confused with arrogance.
With that our conversation came to an end. Anyways, the other contestants had already come inside and were making a lot of noise. We could barely hear what Siddesh was saying. I wanted to ask one or two questions more but may be I will catch him on some other day. His hospitality and humble nature proved that his success has not gotten into his head.
Jhanak
