Mumbai: International dancer Tara Jean Popowich’s elimination from Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa has come as a shock to fans. The dancer too confesses that she had not seen it coming. In an exclusive interview with this paper she said, “I truly wasn’t expecting to go this week. We had a brilliant act about starvation in the world that we were so excited to perform for Sunday’s episode. Regardless, Jack and I are both very in-tune with our gut feelings. We both felt a little off coming to the sets that morning. And honestly, if the judges had asked me who should stay between Akshat and me, I’d have picked Akshat. He’s only 9! So much stress for that little guy.”
Tara says among those she will miss the most is the hosting duo Manish Paul and Ranvir Shorey. “Even though a lot of the time I didn’t understand what they were saying, they still made me laugh. I get attached to people. Madhuri, sitting there, always looking so stunning. Remo and Karan, not looking as stunning but their feedback helped me grow as a dancer. At the contestants’ booth, I would have a blast with Jack, Shampa and Ashish we would just giggle over silly things because we were all so tired, make funny faces at each other.”
Among the contestants she would like to see at the top three spot is Ashish. “He’s a non-dancer and he brings magic with his acting on stage.I love to see good things happen to good people. Mouni is doing a great job with Punit but I haven’t got the time to really get to know her. She called me after I was eliminated. That shows a good heart. Then I like Karan Tacker’s keenness to learn new moves. He would ask Jack and me to teach him some steps. I like that. He’s getting absorbed in dance.”
If she were to sum up her experience in India as a dancer, Tara would say “learning”. “From learning Hindi for my interviews, to memorising Hindi songs to lip sync and then to learn Jack’s dance style, which is something I had never done before. The whole team made India feel like home to me,” Tara says. Speaking of Jack, Tara continues, “I have the utmost respect for Jack. He’s an incredible human being a huge heart, genuine and down-to-earth. There’s no one like him. Even if I had only a week on the show, I would always want it to be with Jack. I feel like I’ve known him my whole life. He’s taught me not to doubt myself, have more patience, to adapt to Indian culture. He somehow found this inner ‘cool’ gangster in me while teaching me his brand of hip-hop.”
