November 5, 2017
Bollywood is missing a dancing star a la Madhuri Dixit, says
choreographer Mini Pradhan, who has made her debut as a judge on the new season
of dance reality television show "Dance India Dance" (DID).
After
assisting iconic choreographers like Farah Khan, Saroj Khan and working as a
technical choreographer, Mini has joined the show's two judges -- Mudassar Khan
and Marzi Pestonji -- along with grand master Mithun Chakraborty.
Mini
spoke to IANS about her experience on the show, as well as the changing dynamics
of film choreography.
As the image of Hindi film heroines is changing --
from Madhubala, Vyjayanthimala, Meena Kumari, Rekha, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit
to Deepika Padukone, the dancing skills of a quintessential Hindi film heroine
have also changed.
Asked about it, Mini told IANS here: "I think after
Madhuri, I see no one in present time has the ability to dance like her. As an
audience, you won't be able to take your eyes off from her just for her pure
dancing."
Having said that, she mentioned the talent of actress Deepika
Padukone, who has won hearts with her dance in the "Ghoomar" song from
"Padmavati".
"Deepika is a very hard working artiste when it comes to
dancing. I choreographed 'Dhoom taana' for her debut film 'Om Shanti Om'. In the
beginning, she found it a little difficult to dance, and therefore, for one
song, she practised around 12 hours to reach to perfection. She is that
dedicated, and it translates into her performance."
For now, Mini is
excited about her stint on DID, and says judging talent is tougher than it
seems.
What are her basic parameters of a good performance?
"Well,
the basics are simple -- rhythm, expression and emoting the song correctly. Rest
differs, but if you are not dancing on the right beat, you are not dancing."
Zee TV's DID has set a bar for dance shows in Indian television, by
balancing the art of dance and the entertainment quotient.
According to
Mini, with the change in the language of entertainment and with the audience's
attention span getting shorter, somewhere commercialization has overpowered the
purity of a dance form and versatility has taken centrestage.
A trained
classical dancer, Mini is a little upset about how bringing classical dance in a
reality TV show is challenging at times.
"DID is a popular show,
therefore it is a platform where we can bring it in, and we have introduced as
many forms of Indian dance as possible. As a judge, we always look for pure
talent. But it is in the mentality of participants that unless they are showing
their versatility in one act -- fusing two different styles of dancing -- they
won't get selected or appreciated by the larger audience, but that is not true.
"We are here to encourage talent and its excellence," she added.