IN BOLLYWOOD, CHOREOGRAPHER IS AN ALL-ROUNDER: SANDIP SOPARRKAR

Hello Everybody,

How have you been? And how did the month go? Hope you have been enjoying the interviews that I have been publishing of late on my blog....Alright, now here's another! Today, I have interviewed yet another celebrity who is soaring high like a Kite in the sky....and not just that he's someone whose views I had taken earlier too...if you've been reading my postings carefully you'd know what I was talking about...yeah the same one which was on the trend of item numbers in Bollywood (Read http://sonyaa-random-musings.blogspot.com/2008/08/yeh-dil-maange-more.html )

"He's always up to something big", is the best way I can sum it up for this young choreographer. Though at the start, he dabbled into hotel management, later added an MBA to his cap, worked in many corporate sectors, headed a PR company for a while but passionately kept his dancing shoes on till he came to the fore as a choreographer....

Now, here are the clues that lead you to the man in question...

• He arrived as a model when he was a finalist for the 'Graviera Mr. India contest' in 1997-98 and later that year he won the title of India's first 'Mr. Young Turk' 

• Debuted by choreographing the ball-room sequences of Shyam Benegal's award-winning film Zubeida starring Karishma Kapoor, Rekha and Manoj Bajpai 

• Went on to do Ketan Mehta's Mangal Pandey, Aishwarya Rai-Vivek Oberoi starrer Kyun Ho Gaya Na, The Myth, Pooja Bhatt's Holiday and many others...
• Appointed as the sole faculty to train participants from India for Olympic Games '10 where the International Dance Sports Federation has for the first time introduced Ballroom Dancing.
• Has performed for Madonna’s most talked about 50th birthday party in London
• Is a faculty member for the ‘Femina Miss India’, ‘Grasim Mr. India’ & ‘Indian Idol’, where he lectures and gives demonstrations on ‘International Dance Appreciation’
• Is currently judging India's most favorite and the second season of the dance reality show ‘Dance India Dance’ (DID) on Zee TV. Previously, he was also associated with Sony TV as the Technical Director for the dance reality show ‘Jhalak Dikh La Ja.
• Asian Gymnastic Championships 2006 gave him the honor to perform at the inaugural ceremony theme - ‘Dances Down the Ages’ before the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh
• And now coming to his clientele, it boasts of the creme of Bollywood - Kajol, Preita Zinta, Tabu, Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu are just to name a few.... Among the models its ramp scorchers with the likes of Yana Gupta, Nethra Raghuraman, Sheetal Malhar, Aditi Govitrikar and the who's who of television like Pooja Bedi, Kunika Lal, Kruttika Desai, Kitu Gidwani and the list is endless....

Alright it's now time to end this suspense - he is none other than SANDIP SOPARRKAR....the man of the hour! Enjoy the interview and do write back to me....waiting to hear from you - sonyaa.random.musings@gmail.com. You can now follow me on twitter too for some latest updates.

Take care and ciao until next month.

Love,

Sonyaa

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Sonyaa:How has been the experience choreographing the reigning pop stars like Madonna, Britney Spears, Shakira?

Sandip:The experience is amazing… they are fabulous dancers indeed and so professional that more than me I think I learnt a lot from them…

Sonyaa: You’ve also been signed for Rob Marshall’s film ‘Nine” which has A-list stars like Penelope Cruz, Daniel-Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren How did Hollywood happen?

Sandip:Hollywood happened just the way Bollywood did…which was by chance! I was in India on a holiday after finishing my dance graduation when I got my break in Hindi films.Coincidentally, I was yet again on another holiday to the States when I got my break in Hollywood. Alright, jokes aside, Rob Marshall had watched my earlier film which was the Jackie Chan starrer The Myth. He liked my work and that’s how I was in!

Sonyaa: So which actor(s) have you choreographed in Nine? And how was the experience?

Sandip: I have choreographed a few seconds piece which features Penelope Cruz, but that doesn’t end there. Mind you, for a few seconds piece they practiced for weeks… that’s their level of dedication!

Sonyaa: How different is their approach towards their work (for that matter dance) as compared to actors in Bollywood?

Sandip: In a regular Bollywood dance number,many a times the steps are improvised impromptu on the set itself; but in Hollywood the actors never reach the set without perfecting their moves. Another point worth a mention is that in Hollywood, choreographers job is to set the dance steps right; but in Bollywood, choreographer is an all-rounder…right from a technician, to dabbling with the costumes to actually getting down to dancing…they do it all!

Sonyaa: Is that the reason why you’ve have been doing fewer projects back home?

Sandip: Not really…Actually, my dance forms do not have much scope in Bollywood…unless someone is willing to take risks…and very few people can!

Sonyaa: Your latest film Kites has been garnering good reviews,how did Kites happen?

Sandip:Well… that’s simple…Hrithik plays a salsa dance teacher in the film.. so I that’s how I was on the project. Roshan’s took the risk!! (laughs)

Sonyaa:How was it choreographing the lead actors like Hrithik Roshan,Barbara Mori and Kangana Ranaut?

Sandip: I worked only with Kangana and Hrithik. Dance wise, I knew all along that Hrithik would be phenomenal...but it was Kangana who surprised me, she was simply amazing in the dance sequences…and I do hope she gets an opportunity to explore her dancing skills in a dance film soon!

Sonyaa: You once said "Bollywood dance is weird", and this coming from a choreographer, you may be having some good reasons when you say this...

Sandip: When I said weird, I meant that it was a mix of all..you really do not know what form it is…it’s like a masaledar kichidi!!

Sonyaa: You had literally gone into hibernation…we’d not heard from you for a while and all of a sudden you’re all over the place,I mean you're on television you are judging DID2, your film Kites has just released and we hear you're doing Vishal Bhardwaj's next? How did this change take place?

Sandip: Every dog has his day…my main work is to teach people to dance, which I will always keep doing. Projects in films and television is like a cherry on the cake!

Sonyaa:Tell us about Vishal Bharadwaj's next? And your future projects?

Sandip:No more future projects…Saat Khoon Maaf is the future!

Sonyaa:When you take up a project what do you keep in mind?

Sandip:The only thing that I see is the fun I’m going to have outta there!! I dance because I love it but when it gets stressful…I would never do it; to me any work related to dance is always a pleasure.

Sonyaa:You seem to be more comfortable in western forms of dance….is it true or you intend to break our myth in your future projects?

Sandip:That’s wrong information! Yes, it's true that I am trained in Latin and Ballroom dancing… but I always love to mix them with different music; be it Latin mixed with Bollywood or Hip-hop to Salsa and that’s really exciting. I have been doing that in all my films; just that in classes I teach what's authentic.

Sonyaa:Do you think dance reality shows as far as children are concerned are really promoting talent or exploiting them? Take the instance on DID where a young girl on the show was trained by her father to perform seductive moves and vulgar pelvic movements. What do you have to say about it?

Sandip:Reality shows is a superb platform to promote talent. That’s true, as for the case of the father teaching the daughter the seductive moves...I think that was very sick. Kids should remain kids and parents who allow them to mature before age are being unfair to their little ones, after all this is the only time they can enjoy their childhood.

Sonyaa: On the personal front,can we attribute this positive change to your better half Jesse Randhawa?

Sandip: For sure, Jesse is my back-bone and the lady-luck factor in my life. She is very supportive and encouraging.

Sonyaa: How has life changed after marriage?

Sandip: It's simply wonderful...Jesse completes me.

Sonyaa: Recently, she made her debut with Gulal. How would you rate her as an actress,a model and as a home-maker?

Sandip: Jesse as a model is a super model in the true sense. It's been 16 years and she remains untouched even now. As an actress, she is amazing with her emotions and expressions. And she proved me right when she was nominated as the best newcomer at the Screen Awards early this year. As a home-maker, I must admit that after her coming, my house has now become a home in it's true sense.

Sonyaa: Do you two advise each other on your work?

Sandip: On her work never… because I have no clue how a model or an actor works. She is a pro and I leave her to that. But on the other hand I do take advice from her on my work. She is very creative and her advice always works for me.

Sonyaa: How do you strike a perfect balance between your home and work?

Sandip: I feel the real marriage mantra is "space". When either of us have had a bad or a long hectic day at work… we let each other relax. Probably, we'd have a drink or two together,go for a candle-light dinner or just play with our son. But we don't discuss work at all.

Sonyaa: Now coming to the topic of your son whom you adopted some time back and became a single father. How has he made a difference in your life? Has he adjusted to his new home? Do you plan to expand your brood?

Sandip: Oh... that was the most amazing feeling! Arjun's homecoming was the most beautiful day of my life. He brought in stability and made me take life seriously. Both Jesse and Arjun love each other a lot and cannot stay without each other so much so I'm become just the other person in the house. Jesse and I plan to adopt more kids.

Sonyaa: Considering the profession you're in, what is your fitness mantra?

Sandip: I workout like mad and dance like crazy. I am simply obsessed with being fit!

Sonyaa: What is your selection criterion when students enrol to join your dance academy?

Sandip: During the enrollment process, the most important thing I keep in mind is the students' willingness to learn and nothing more. There is no bar on your age, size or shape...all are welcome to dance. They should just be wanting to learn and willing to put in that extra effort!

Sonyaa: Any piece of advice you'd like to give to budding choreographers?

Sandip: My advice to them would be to master learn a particular dance form completely and fully and only then experiment with other dance forms. The whole idea here is to be a master of one or you will be a master of none!

SOME QUICK TAKES...

An actor/actress you'd like to choreograph...

Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi

Ever thought of directing a film?

No..no thoughts as of now...

Any unfulfilled dream:

Many many and many…

Dance according to you is...

My Life

Your dance guru:

My first teachers, my mom and grand mom

Favorite film:

Dance with me...