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Best foot forward

Photo: V. Sudershan

It’s a goal Baichung Bhutia

What’s common between Baichung Bhutia and Shah Rukh Khan? Both play / played football, are popular and are good dancers. We’ve all seen King Khan shake a leg on screen, but Baichung? Believe it or not, Baichung’s moves on the dance floor appear to be as well orchestrated as those on the football pitch.

Economy of movement and natural flair are apparent on the stage too. Which is why after weeks of dancing, Baichung emerged as the winner of the recently-concluded dance reality show, “Jhalak Dikhla Ja III” on Sony TV. The finale was a close contest between him, Gauhar Khan and Karan Grover. Baichung started off as an inexpressive, stiff and mediocre performer, but improved remarkably with every episode, and went on to become the hot favourite. “It feels really good to win and even better to know that ‘Jhalak’ is over and I won’t have to dance again,” says a grinning Baichung.

Having grown up watching Rishi Kapoor dancing, it was a childhood dream for Baichung to do something like this. Experience and fear were other reasons that made him give the dance show a shot. “The first time I danced on the show, Saroj ji said I had potential, and that encouraged me.” But the journey and the metamorphosis from a complete non-dancer to a dancer wasn’t easy. He had to juggle between a couple of football matches and practise for the show. That left the well-toned footballer with only two to three days to finish a song. For the finale, Baichung had only four hours to practice. Generously heaping praise on his choreographer Sonia, he says that it was her efforts that made the win possible. She knew his weaknesses and strengths, and that helped. “Its Sonia’s victory more than mine,” he adds. Incidentally, Baichung has now become the first male winner of the show. The previous two editions of “Jhalak Dikhla Ja” saw Mona Singh and Prachi Desai walk away with the trophy. In spite of this feat, Baichung wants to steer clear of further dance shows and concentrate on his football season that’s about to start. And what about acting? “Not unless a mad producer or director offers me 50 million,” he laughs.

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