Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 13, 2017)

Munna Michael is a special film for Tiger Shroff, who considers it his tribute to Michael Jackson. The actor, who is known for his swift moves on the dance floor, left no stone unturned in perfecting MJ’s style of dancing for the film. Shroff can be seen recreating MJ’s iconic moves in the recently released song, Beparwah.

Talking about the gruelling practice sessions that Shroff endured, director Sabbir Khan says, “Tiger attended a dance camp in the US. Not just that, dancers were brought in from Los Angeles. They practised with him for about 18 hours everyday. Many of these dancers have accompanied MJ on his tours and danced with him. We used them in a few sequences in the film as well. Off work, they shared anecdotes on MJ’s personal style, his gimmicks, et al.” Shroff has often expressed his admiration for the King of Pop and his passion for the dancing legend was evident during the movie’s shoot as well. Khan says, “He got emotional every time one of MJ’s tunes was played.”

In fact, it was Tiger who pushed Khan to direct the dance drama. “We were shooting a promotional number for Heropanti (2012), when I happened to discuss the idea of Munna Michael with Tiger. It was forgotten after that. In June last year, he called me saying, ‘Why don’t we make that film?’” recalls Khan.

The filmmaker, who is collaborating with Shroff for the third time, after Heropanti and Baaghi (2016), says he has never seen him as invested in a project. “He was bummed out after A Flying Jatt (2016) didn’t work, but he didn’t let that dampen his spirits. He used the dejection and failure to make this a wonderful film.”