Mumbai: Shakti Mohan, the winner of Dance India Dance-2, surprised everybody when she signed up for the upcoming season of dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa as a contestant, and not a choreographer
Here’s more, the dancer and actress is a bundle of nerves these days. She says, “Yes, the expectations are high since I have won DID in the past. Every day people tell me ‘you will kill it’ (on Jhalak). That puts immense pressure.”
Incidentally Bollywood choreographer Remo D’Souza, who judged Shakti on DID, is also a part of Jhalak and her sister Mukti had contested for the same title last season. Shakti maybe training under a choreographer currently, but she was a choreographer herself when she was in New York.
However, that’s not something Shakti would like to take up as a career at the moment. She says, “I studied dance and choreography in New York and even taught people there. But it is not something I’m looking to pursue as a career. Right now the focus is on improving my dance.”
At the moment, Shakti is juggling the shoot of her TV show Dil Dosti Dance along with her dance rehearsals. Shakti says, “I shoot all day and then go for rehearsals. I can only spare three to four hours for rehearsals. Ideally, a dancer should put in 10 hours of daily practice to deliver a polished performance. But the shoot of Dil Dosti Dance doesn’t give me that kind of time.”
Besides performing on shows, Shakti is continuing her tryst with film songs. Her latest is Tequila Wakila from the recently released film Samrat and Co., which was choreographed by Ganesh Acharya. In the past, she has made dance appearances in films like Tees Maar Khan, Rowdy Rathore and Kaanchi.
Going by the past trends, it has been observed that amateur contestants have triumphed over trained ones in Jhalak. But Shakti remains optimistic about it. “I will put in my best. The rest is for the judges to decide. I hope I win.”
