Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; January 23, 2020)

Choreographer-turned-filmmaker Remo D’Souza gave the dance film genre a boost by introducing the Indian audience to the world of new-age dance through his movies. While his first two films, ABCD: Anybody Can Dance (2013) and ABCD 2 (2015), were all about the art form on stage, this time around, he is taking it to the streets. He promises that this experiment of his, in 3D, is going to be a joyride. In a chat with BT, he talks about casting stars in his film, boxoffice expectations and making one of India’s best dancers — Prabhudheva — dance to his tunes. Excerpts:

Street Dancer 3D is your third dance film. The challenge to make it bigger and better must have been daunting...
I feel that I have not explored even five per cent of the kind of dance and music that’s there in our country and across the world. While the earlier two films were based on dancing on stage, we have taken to the streets with this one. Street Dancer 3D is based in London and revolves around Indian, Pakistani and people of other nationalities. It’s about desis, who are born and brought up there and the film focuses on what they feel about India. It is based on a real, six-hour documentary on illegal immigrants. There’s a strong storyline that sees a fusion with dance and music. When I make a dance film, I make sure that the characters have a reason to dance. It took some time to find that reason. But when we found it, it was amazing.

While song and dance have been an important aspect of Hindi films for many decades, there is a section that tends to look down on it, without realising the amount of hard work that goes into it...
A lot of people associate Bollywood with just song and dance. I get annoyed when they say that. Aise hi thodi hum duniya mein sabse zyada films banaate hain. Toh kabhi kabhi bura lagta hai, but I am glad that the perception is changing. Maybe, in the coming years, we will prove that the Indian film industry is the best. Bollywood is known for its music and dance, and there are no two ways about it. However, we are now making films without music and dance, too. But back when I decided to make a film on dance, there weren’t too many films of that genre. Everyone told me that this genre doesn’t work and that’s why no one makes any films that focus on dance. During the process, I realised that if I focus only on music and dance, without any story, it won't work. I knew that I needed a strong story to pull it off. A strong storyline is of paramount importance to support a dance film, and when you have that, you’ve got a winner.

With ABCD, you delivered a hit without a big star. Why did you feel the need to rope in Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor for the second instalment and repeat them in Street Dancer 3D? Do you think star presence translates into box office success?
The film industry doesn’t talk about hits and flops anymore. Now, it’s all about the box-office collection on the day of the release, the second day and weekends. Today, no one asks, ‘Picture kaisi hai?’ All they ask is the first-day collection of the film. As a filmmaker, it’s scary to answer questions about the collections instead of how a movie is made. A film is judged on that. While it is scary, this is how the industry works now, and so, numbers matter. When we started working on ABCD 2, I realised that the person playing the central character had to be a strong actor along with being a good dancer. That combination was tough to find. Our quest to find that perfect combination ended with Varun and Shraddha. When we met Shraddha for ABCD 2, she said that she would audition for the part even if she was not chosen for it. She did this despite being a big name in the industry. I appreciate her dedication and sincerity, and we cast her.

Katrina Kaif and not Shraddha was your original choice for Street Dancer 3D. Did you make any changes to the script after Shraddha came on board?
The script was originally written keeping in mind that this would be the third instalment of ABCD. But since the studio that backed the first two films had shut down its Hindi film production unit, I had to take the film to someone else. I couldn’t use the same title, and so, we named the film Street Dancer 3D. Varun was the original choice for it along with Katrina. However, just a month before we were set to go on floors, she had to opt out of this film due to Bharat. Everyone knows what happened with that film… Priyanka Chopra (Jonas) backed out and Katrina had to step in. We were stuck because I couldn’t push my schedule, as I wanted to shoot during winter in London. Being a thorough professional, Katrina herself told us that we should go with somebody else. That’s when Shraddha came on board. I had to make very minute changes in the script when she joined the team. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that one is indispensable. It could have happened with the actor, too. If an actress can get replaced, so can the actor.

You are extremely fond of Prabhudheva, and he has featured in all your dance films. Since he is also a choreographer and director, does it ever get tricky for you to make him dance to your tunes?
Not at all. He is the sweetest person I have met in my life. Despite being a big director and actor, he behaves like a newcomer on the set and surrenders himself to the vision of the director. He has never read the scripts of the films I have offered him, nor has he ever inquired about his character. He just comes and asks, ‘What do you want me to do?’ That’s how much he trusts me. His favourite line is, ‘Don’t make me dance so much; you should consider my age. These youngsters are better dancers than me.’ But as soon as the music is turned on and he starts dancing, he puts everyone to shame. He is like family to me, and will be a part of every dance film that I make.