Chhaayaageet #215 - "I can do jhatkas and matkas but my work is different."
The hero's wife has been taking dance lessons for some time. In the early days when he was still trying to make it big in the industry, he would drop her off at the dance studio, or sometimes go to pick her up.
He would hang around the studio for hours waiting for her to finish, watch the dance class or stand outside and smoke. Everyone thought it was adoring. He was time-rich and money-poor. A few TV serials, a few films, some with negative roles was all that he had to his credit.
But now he is billboard material. One film had changed the equation. He no longer drops his wife to the studio, nor does he go when she finishes. He is money-rich and time-poor.
One day the wife calls the dance instructor, "My husband wants to meet you. Why don't you come home for dinner?"
The dance instructor is puzzled. What does the hero want to meet him for? He knows the guy. They aren't strangers. But he is not sure what it is going to be about. He shows up as decided.
Over dinner the hero shares that a film is going on the floors. "I would like you to do the choreography," the hero adds.
The dance instructor is surprised. His style of dance is not aligned with the Hindi film industry. He teaches jazz, contemporary and hip hop, and some might say he has even created his own brand of style that fuses all these with Indian sensibilities. But choreographing in films has not even been on his mind.
"I have no interest in Bollywood. I am too busy with my dance classes, and performing, singing, acting musical theater," he tells the hero.
"No no no, you have to think big. I have a vision for this film," the hero goes on to explain the big picture to the dance instructor.
"Your film will flop," the instructor tells the hero. "My style of dance will never work in the industry," he adds further.
"You were a fool to reject my earlier film," the hero reprimands him. Yes, that's true, the instructor thinks to himself. The filmmaker of the hero's big hit film had offered the choreography to him but the instructor had refused on the same grounds. Even then he had felt that the Indian audience would reject his style of dance. Plus he thought that script didn't need Western dance moves.
"I can do jhatkas and matkas but my work is different," the dance instructor makes his case, referring to specific gyrations that feature in folksy Indian songs.
"This film needs your style of dance," the hero continues to press him.
The conversation continues for an hour. The dance instructor hemming and hawing and the hero alternately convincing him that his dances would be perfect, and equally berating him for letting go of an earlier chance to choreograph one of the biggest hits in recent times. In his mind, the instructor regrets coming to dinner. The hero is driving him nuts.
"Ok, let me try," the dance instructor signals a wavering yes. The hero decides to arrange a meeting with the filmmaker. It is the same filmmaker as before.
In that meeting, the dance instructor learns about the story and the characters.
"What do you think?" the filmmaker asks him. The hero looks at him expectantly.
"My dance form is different. I don't know if it will work," the instructor repeats his concerns. The filmmaker and hero reassure him that his dance form is exactly what they need. "This is a dance film," they tell him. They reinforce their immense faith in him.
"Ok, but I have one condition," the dance instructor relents.
"Whatever you want," the filmmaker agrees without even waiting to hear what the condition is.
"If I am doing the dance, it will be my costumes and my music," the dance instructor informs them.
The filmmaker agrees. "You can even use your backup dancers in the film," he tells the dance instructor. "You have full creative control, lights, costumes, hair, looks, it will be you and me, no one else," the filmmaker assures him.
The dance instructor signs on. He is one of two choreographers on the film. One particular number is not really a song, but it is a dance face-off between the film's two heroines. The dance instructor is given a free rein to compose the music for this face-off.
The filmmaker's son makes sure the dance instructor is intimately familiar with all the story points so that he can design the dance moves in specific ways for each of the heroines. The dance is both modern and classical leveraging the strengths of both the dancers.
Shiamak Davar choreographed the Dance of Envy in Dil to Pagal Hai (1997), produced and directed by Yash Chopra, featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Karisma Kapoor. Uttam Singh was the music composer on the film, however, it was Shiamak Davar who had creative control of the music for the face-off.
Shiamak directed the dance sequences for Le Gayi Le Gayi, Chak Dhoom Dhoom, and Arre Re Arre Ye besides the Dance of Envy. Farah Khan choreographed the rest of the songs. Dil to Pagal Hai was Shiamak's first foray into the Hindi film industry, made possible by Shah Rukh Khan and Yash Chopra. Yash ji had earlier offered Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) to Shiamak, which he refused and later regretted doing so. Shiamak had felt scared and worried that his style of dance would never be accepted in Hindi films.
The Dance of Envy is an iconic dance number, remembered for the electric dance performance by the two leading ladies, Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor. Shiamak says that both of them were given a similar dance routine but both of them executed it differently, Madhuri with a classical elegance and grace, and Karishma with a modern energetic approach.
Shiamak Davar was recognized with the National Award for his work in Dil To Pagal Hai. He set a trend in the industry with the fusion of jazz and contemporary style of dance set to the beats of Indian music. The trend of having ensemble background dancers also started with this film. Shahid Kapoor features as one of the background dancers in the songs. He also featured as one of the background dancers in the song Kahin Aag Lage in Taal.
Gauri Khan, Shah Rukh Khan's wife, who had been taking dance lessons from Davar, has featured in many of his stage shows and performances as a lead stage dancer.
Dil To Pagal Hai was a huge commercial success and won a number of Filmfare Awards: Best Film, Best Actor (Shah Rukh Khan), Best Actress (Madhuri Dixit), Best Supporting Actress (Karisma Kapoor), Best Music Director (Uttam Singh), Best Dialogue (Aditya Chopra), Best Art Direction (Sharmishta Roy), and nominations for Best Director (Yash Chopra), Best Supporting Actor (Akshay Kumar), Best Lyricist (Anand Bakshi), Best Male Playback Singer (Udit Narayan).
Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor recreated the Dance of Envy live for a TV show. Watch their scintillating performances below. The role of Nisha essayed by Karisma Kapoor was earlier offered to Raveena Tandon, Kajol, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar and Shilpa Shetty, all of whom turned it down, with some expressing hesitation with the prospect of going up against Madhuri Dixit in dance. Karisma Kapoor won the National Award for her role.
Choreographer: Shiamak Davar
Music: Shiamak Davar, Uttam Singh
*ing: Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan
Director: Yash Chopra
Film: Dil To Pagal Hai (1997)