Daily Times

Actress and producer Madhuri Dixit-Nene, who has joined creative forces with veteran choreographer Saroj Khan for a dance number “Tabha Ho Gaye” in ‘Kalank’, says the dance director knows how to make women look graceful on-screen.

In the past, the two artistes have worked on memorable songs like “Ek dou teen”, “Choli ke peeche”, “Dhak dhak karne laga” and “Maar daala”.

“Saroj Khan is one of the choreographers I have collaborated with who goes beyond the surface of lyrics of a song when she choreographs. In cinema, we tend to create steps keeping the camera angle in mind. But Khan doesn’t limit the dance in physical movements. She finds a spiritual aspect and works on expressions. She knows how to make a woman look graceful and beautiful through a dance,” Madhuri Dixit-Nene told IANS during an interview.

“Perhaps that is why every song we did together, holds a recall value even today. If the youngsters are still dancing to those numbers, I think we did something right,” she smiled.

‘Every song we did together, holds a recall value even today. If the youngsters are still dancing to those numbers, I think we did something right’

The song “Tabah Ho Gaye”, a solo dance number picturised on Madhuri Dixit released on Tuesday. It’s choreographed by Khan and Remo D’Souza.

“The song comes at a very poignant time in the narration when the back stories of each character are unfolding. The song is a quite defining moment in the story,” Madhuri said.

Since Madhuri is a trained kathak dancer, from the beginning of her career she has also cemented her space as a skilled dancer.

With the changing times, is the appreciation of classical dance in Indian cinema fading away?

“No, I don’t agree with that at all. The audience is always intelligent. It’s a wrong notion that youngsters only like hip-hop and western dance. After a long time, we’ve seen a dance like ‘Ghar More’ from ‘Kalank’ and the audience has really loved the dance. It’s a classical dance form that we have presented to the audience and they have enjoyed it. It only shows that if the dance is well-choreographed, no matter which form of dance it is, people will like it; people of all generations. I think that’s the power of good dancing. I’m quite confident about ‘Tabah.’ also, because again it is a very emotional, poised, nicely choreographed song,” she said.

Directed by Abhishek Verman, ‘Kalank’ also features Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt and Sonakshi Sinha. It’s releasing on April 17, 2019.