Straight Talking with Saroj Khan

by Guest 7/4/2009, 10:07 pm

Straight Talking with Saroj Khan

Saroj Khan, the supreme judge of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 3 (Fri-Sat at 9pm on Sony TV) this year, dishes out her opinion to the contestants as straight as it gets. We caught up with the legendary choreography for an equally straightforward interview about her experience and expectations from the show.

Straight Talking with Saroj Khan 07-04saroj-khan1

How has your experience on Jhalak been so far?
It has been very good. There are different people from different fields on the show and I enjoy it. All the contestants are not dancers so it is fun to watch and judge them. I cannot say the strongest is as the performances vary day to day but Hard Kaur and Gauhar Khan are good performers. Parul and Karan are also neck to neck. All four of them are very strong and powerful contenders.

Who has surprised you with their skill?
Karan was surprising. In first two performances, he was average and then suddenly, out of the blue, he got 30 points. Another contestant is Baichung, whose career is so different from our field. Dancing to him is like if I were to play cricket- it would be very surprising. As far as he is concerned, he has shocked everyone. He enjoys it; you can make that out from his expressions. I have told him that he needs to work on his turns, as he does not know anything about that. And I still remember some of Mohindrji’s performances where he danced really well.

Did you give these contestants any tips off screen?
We normally give tips on the sets only. If they focus on those flaws which we point out on the show, they will soon improve. We cannot lie there; at least I can’t do it. I tell them everything in a straightforward way. Like in Nach Baliye, I have seen a lot of improvement in contestants after my comments. Here too, they will improve if they concentrate on what I say.

Straight Talking with Saroj Khan 07-04saroj-khan2

Who according to you is a promising choreographer on the show?
Javed is very talented. Nishant is also very nice and a new choreographer. Savio is promising too. Among the ladies, only two girls are remaining: Nicole and Sonia. I think that Nicole is better.

What is your reaction to the excuses that contestants make?
I do not get angry when they give us excuses for not performing well. They know that it is of no use so they generally avoid doing it. I do not consider these things while judging them. If they have other commitments, they have to find a way to make time for this show as well. It is not acceptable to say that because I was busy with one show, I could not put in time for this show. Anyway, the final result does not completely depend on us; it is based on public voting.

What is your relationship with Vaibhavi like?
We are not at loggerheads. She has her own points and I have mine. If she is right, then she is right .You can see it both ways. Sometimes, when you have another choreographer as your co-judge, you feel that your own judgment is better and sometimes you feel that her judgment is better. The good part is that we have Juhi Chawla in between with us as a third judge. So it becomes neutral.

Before this, Saroj was a judge on Nach Baliye for two seasons and Aaja Mahi Ve on Star Plus.

<LI class=txt_grey type=square>Sonali Joshi, Vandana Shukla/Hill Road Media </LI>

<LI class=txt_grey type=square>Tuesday, April 07, 2009</LI>

Straight Talking with Saroj Khan

Straight Talking with Saroj Khan

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