Actor Richa Chadha feels it’s a loss that she hasn’t done any films that made use of her dance skills, and admits that she wants to explore that side of herself as an artiste.

“I learnt dance in Delhi for 10 years, starting from the age of six, straight up till I was in high school. Today, I can confidently say that the rhythm that it has introduced in my body has made me an able performer,” she says, adding, “It is actually quite puzzling and amusing that I haven’t done any films that really utilised this potential of mine”.

The 35-year-old continues, “Also, I haven’t chosen films that consciously have a lot of songs or item numbers. I guess that is one of the reasons as well.” However, she hopes to do “that in the future someday”, as dance has helped her appreciate her body and given her a lot of grace. “It has also made me appreciate classical forms, which is by far the most evolved in the world,” she admits.

Making a personal confession, Chadha shares that it was her grandfather who pushed her to pursue dance. “Once, I explained to him how acting is a great profession and I’d be good at it, and he told me that I should look up actors from the past like Waheeda Rehman, Vyjayanthimala, Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Asha Parekh to see how they would be so graceful and fluid in their movements. This set my desire to learn dancing,” she tells us, further adding, “When we are kids, we don’t really realise how the words of our elders impact us, but today I am truly grateful”.