The Hindu : New Delhi News : It’s the time to disco…

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Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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New Delhi

It’s the time to disco…

Jeetendra to join Rishi Kapoor for a performance in ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’

On the dance floor: A still from ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa – Dancing with the Stars’ on Sony Entertainment Television

“Jumping Jack” Jeetendra will set the stage on fire in ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa -- Dancing with the Stars’ on Sony Entertainment Television this Friday. One of the judges on the dance format show, Jeetendra will join Rishi Kapoor, the chocolate hero of the 1970s and 1980s, on the dance floor.

Now the question bothering cinema lovers is why Jeetendra, who had been consistently avoiding the silver screen, chose to take up the television assignment. “The channel’s CEO Kunal Dasgupta is a friend and he made me this offer. More than me my daughter Ekta was delighted with it and wanted me to take it up. So I did it to make her happy,” says Jeetendra.

Sharing his experience of the show, Jeetendra says there was positive energy all around: “I love to watch these youngsters who are working so hard and performing so well. It brings back a lot of memories. I was all along sitting at home and now I am doing something I am truly enjoying.”

Being an accomplished dancer himself, Jeetendra says at times he gets tempted to take to the dance floor. “I have not been a mute spectator as a judge. Whenever I have felt like dancing I have done whatever these old bones permit me to do,” he says with a chuckle.

Sitting in judgment at the show is not an easy task. “At the back of the mind, I am sure everybody has a favourite. But when I sit in the judges’ chair I put all that out of my mind and try to be fair to all of them. I speak my mind and I hope I am doing a fair job of it,” he adds.

Jeetendra says when a contestant asks for votes on camera saying judges’ marks are immaterial and only viewers’ votes matter, it has a lot to do with his frame of mind at that moment. “One should not take it amiss. In the same way what the judges say should also be taken in the right spirit and not to be taken personally,” he says.

Madhur Tankha

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