A regular on dance shows, Malaika Arora on being part of the judges' panel of India's Best Dancer
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; March 11, 2020)

When the music plays, few can move as gracefully as Malaika Arora does. Her firm command over the art form has seen her judge several dance reality shows. As she shares the judges' panel with Geeta Kapur and Terence Lewis for India's Best Dancer, Arora says she is not one to believe in tough love.

"I am not a strict judge but more of an emotional one. Nach Baliye was the first dance-based reality show [India] had and since then, there have been many. [In the course of the multiple shows], I have judged contestants spanning from four to five year olds to 60-somethings. Of course, every show has a different format and an approach. So, there are different parameters to judge. But I judge from my heart and am not calculative," smiles Arora.

As an artiste who has been a regular fixture in films as well as television, she admits that the dancing styles displayed on shows put movies to shame. "Movies have to catch up. Some of the dances that I see on television — the quality, standard, technique and knowledge — are unbelievable. You don't see that level of finesse in films because some may not be able do what the contestants do on stage. Having said that, we do have some amazing dancers in the industry. It is only a matter of time [before the two mediums are on par]."

Mention Arora, and the first image that springs to one's mind is her dancing atop a train to the beats of Chaiya chaiya [Dil Se, 1998]. Difficult as the dance number may have been, she states that she has tried to push the envelope with her acts. "I have tried aerial [stunts] in some songs. It can be scary and I would do several rehearsals before performing."

MUMBAI MIRROR (June 23, 2017)

Sonakshi Sinha sprang a surprise by shaking a leg with Arjun Kapoor on Thursday during the finale shoot of the dance reality show, Nach Baliye, which he judges. She had reportedly refused to share the stage or even a page with her Tevar co-star after the release of their only film together.

Back then, there were rumours of the duo dating and even planning to tie the knot, which Sonakshi had vehemently refuted. But after that she has kept her distance from the actor till yesterday, when he came on the show with his chachu, Anil Kapoor, and co-stars Ileana D’Cruz and Athiya Shetty, to promote their upcoming wedding comedy, Mubarakan.

According to a source from the sets, after finalists Divyanka Tripathi and husband Vivek Dahiya performed to the remixed version of “Har Kisi Ko Nahi Milta” that Sonakshi had recreated with Akshay Kumar in her 2013 release, Boss, from Anil’s original Jaanbaaz song, the senior actor went on the dance floor to groove to the familiar tune. He then challenged his nephew and Sonakshi to join him on stage.

“She readily agreed and both had a lot of fun dancing to the remixed track. There was no awkwardness between them,” says the source, adding that they even posed for pictures together, standing shoulder to shoulder.

Arjun had earlier appeared on the show with Shraddha Kapoor to promote Half Girlfriend, but on that episode Malaika Arora had replaced Sonkashi. They too had danced together!

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 15, 2017)

On Tuesday, Sonakshi Sinha paid tribute to guest judge Sridevi on her dance reality show Nach Baliye, grooving to her iconic Mr India chartbuster, “Hawa Hawai”.

The senior actress was persuaded to shake a leg with Sona who in last year’s release, Force 2, had recreated another one of Sridevi’s hit numbers, 'Kaate Nahi Katate', from the same film. “When we were discussing who will perform on which song, I already had my answer down pat. It had to be 'Hawa Hawai',” Sona told Mirror.

She informed that as a child she always went for fancy dress competitions dressed up as Sridevi and mostly it was in the now-familiar golden gown with the baubles and the crown.

“It is a special memory associated with my childhood, I’ve won many competitions as Miss Hawa Hawai,” she laughed, describing Sridevi as one of Indian cinema’s most iconic actresses who still has a spellbinding presence on screen. She went on to reveal that she would be overwhelmed every time she met the diva as a child, thanks to dad Shatrughan Sinha.

Sonakshi’s co-judges, director Mohit Suri and choreographer Terence Lewis, performed on other Sridevi chartbusters. While Mohit danced to the title track of Chandni, Terence flaunted his moves to the 1983 comedy-drama, Himmatwala’s “Taki O Taki”, which was picturised on Sridevi and her then-frequent costar, Jeetendra.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 31, 2017)

On Tuesday, Sonakshi Sinha was clueless about a surprise awaiting her as she made her way to the sets of the celebrity dance-based reality show Nach Baliye that she judges alongside filmmaker Mohit Suri and choreographer Terence Lewis.

Manindra Mane, nephew of Marathi actor Siddharth Jadhav, one of the contestants on the show, was waiting in the wings for the 29-year-old actress to arrive so that he could gift her the sketch he had made of her.

The awestruck fan went on to recount past efforts to get Sona’s attention with shout-outs on Twitter and visits to her film sets so he could show her his work. When an impressed Sonakshi asked if she could keep the sketch, Manindra requested her to autograph it so he would have a memento.

Sonakshi told Mirror, “This week, Nach Baliye was special and extravagant because a fan had made a beautiful sketch of me. Moments like these are humbling. I was really happy that I could meet him and get a picture clicked with him. It’s because of them that we are where we are today. It was extravagant and fascinating to watch because this week was Remo (D’Souza) sir’s challenge where he got his own groups to perform with our jodis and these groups were on the next-level, raising the dance standard of the country further. I wish to share the stage with these groups someday in life."

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 17, 2017)

After permeating the country’s collective consciousness with the virtues of Pranayama, yoga guru Ramdev was a curious sight on the sets of the dance-based reality show Nach Baliye on Tuesday. He shot for an upcoming episode as a guest judge alongside Sonakshi Sinha, Terence Lewis and Mohit Suri.

A source from the sets reveals that there was heavy security on the sets during Ramdev’s entry, with guards checking IDs and sniffer dogs doing the rounds. He kicked off the shoot at 5 pm with Terence giving him a lowdown on the contestants and the show’s format. One of the competing couples on the wild card episode was TV actress Aashka Goradia and her firang boyfriend Brent Goble.

Ramdev was particularly intrigued by Brent and made him do headstands. He gave yoga lessons to the other contestants too, urging them to keep calm as they fight to the finish.

He then turned his attention towards the judges. While Terence was excited to follow his cues, Half Girlfriend director Mohit tried to escape but was dragged to the floor. So was Sonakshi whom Ramdev mistakenly called Meenakshi. Ramdev also vetoed raunchy Bollywood songs and the lessons were conducted to “Chak de! India.”

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 11, 2017)

On Wednesday, Mirror reported (May 9) how Sonakshi Sinha had gone the extra mile for her “Dum Maro Dum” act in the dance reality show, Nach Baliye, which she is judging. Now, we have learnt that the actress was actually quite miffed after she was kept waiting for hours to film her tribute to Zeenat Aman despite having informed the team well in advance that she had to leave early to keep another commitment. A little after 10 pm, she posted a cryptic tweet, “I hate it when people refuse to respect other people’s time and commitments. It’s the one single thing that switches me off. Like fully.”

A source from the sets reveals that Sona had wanted to leave by 8.30 pm but was made to wait till 11 pm to shoot her dance which was the last performance of the day. “Since the theme was Bollywood, all the couples had a lot of props so setting up the shots took time. Also, this was the first time on the show that the couples had to coordinate their movements with background dancers and that added to the delay. Lunch break which is usually not more than 45 minutes went on for two hours. Sonakshi’s own act choreographed by Salman Yusuff Khan, required some rehearsals and was eventually canned around 11 pm. She was miffed but couldn’t do much because even her entry and exit shots hadn’t been shot, so she was forced to stay on,” adds the source. Hare Krishna, Hare Ram!

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 10, 2017)

Sonakshi Sinha stepped into Zeenat Aman’s shoes this week on Nach Baliye, the dance reality show that she judges. The seventies sex symbol is her idol.

A source from the sets reveals that the theme for this week was Bollywood and Sonakshi informed the team that she wants to be Zeenat. She went on to perform on “Dum Maaro Dum”, a mix of the old and new version.

Co-judge Mohit Suri turned up as Amitabh Bachchan from Hum while Terence Lewis was Bajirao from Bajirao Mastani. Later on the trio played a game of dumb charades.

Mohit was a total failure while Sona and Terence were applauded by the contestants and audience. Sona got her own tribute as a contestant, Bharti Singh, did a take off on Dabangg’s Rajjo with her replaying Sona’s songs and lines. Bharti also did a “Munni”.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 26, 2017)

Why would one of India’s most successful stand-up comics agree to be pitted against sexy women half her size with a man who never wanted to dance?
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; April 23, 2017)

Mumbaikar Harsh Limbachiyaa wrote poetry when at school. It was one of the many indications that he wasn’t cut out for academic pursuits. Ditching formal education in class 12, he took a friend’s observation that he walked, talked and wrote funny seriously enough to pursue being a comedy sketch writer. At 17, he struggled to get on board the team for Sony’s Comedy Circus. A few years and some experience later, as writer for The Great Indian laughter Challenge on the same channel, one of the first characters he imagined was Lalli, a little girl who spoke her innocent mind. It was created for Amritsari comic Bharti Singh, a 22-year-old heavyweight who used her size and comic style to advantage. Lalli, with her kiddie drawl and girlie laugh, became an instant hit, adding steam to Singh’s journey to success. Inadvertently, she became Limbachiyaa’s first friend in the television industry. He says, “Writing happened by chance. But when I did do it, I discovered the two loves of my life — comedy and Bharti. That’s why I am still here.”

Here is on the sets of dance reality show Nach Baliye 8 at Goregaon’s Filmistan Studio, where if unconfirmed reports are to be believed, they are paid Rs 30 lakh per episode. The longer they last, the fatter the final pay cheque will be. From audience votes and the reaction of judges Sonakshi Sinha, Mohit Suri and Terence Lewis, it seems they are going to be here a while.

We talk about camaraderie over green tea with Singh, now 32, and her 27-year-old fiancé. He pulls her cheeks every other minute while she feigns annoyance right before launching into the thousand reasons she thinks he is “out of this world”. They are taking a break before they get back to rehearsing their next routine with choreographer Savio Barnes, whom Singh has worked previously on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. For Limbachiyaa, it’s his first try at dancing. He is doing this for Singh.



They’ve done pretty much everything together since they began dating seven years ago, including partnering on Comedy Nights Bachao and Comedy Classes. It was, however, only recently that she publicly admitted to the relationship and announced their engagement. They hope to marry by the end of this year. “He likes the real me, despite my weight,” she says. “He has all of me to deal with and he doesn’t mind. The girls on set come and tell me how cute he is and my face falls. Maybe I should insist on a male-only crew?” she mocks.

Singh, the comedian, is now world famous. She is hoping that through showing off her dance skills and a man on her arm, there is an image shift. “I am getting to show my fans a different side. I am more than just funny; I’m romantic too. I am just a girl, and I have a boyfriend.”

Limbachiyaa dotes on her, much in the way a young man would his mentor and nurturer. “Everything that comes out of my mouth is [considered] a joke. Harsh is the only one who gets to see my serious side,” she says. He plays the introverted, sensitive to her needs boyfriend; she, the self-confessed mother who buys him gifts each time he agrees with her. Like she did when he said yes to being part of Nach Baliye after several attempts. “They’ve [show organisers] have been asking us [to participate] for two years. I tried convincing him this time unsuccessfully, and went back crying. The next morning, I found a message on my phone that read: ‘ok, let’s do it’. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Of course, I had to buy him a lot of gifts later,” she says indulgently.

They are talking of the back-breaking stunts they have had to attempt, and how that’s revealed a different side of their partnership. “These days, we go to our respective homes only to sleep. We are realising we love each other even more,” she says. On a recent episode, Singh was assigned a reverse split with Limbachiyaa holding her up despite a torn ankle muscle. “I heard him wince, but he didn’t let go. That’s how he is in real life too.”



He thinks their relationship is a success because they are peace-loving. “When I get upset, she stays calm. When I am angry, she’s okay. We understand each other’s moods.” He is pulling her cheeks again, and asks us, aren’t you tempted to do the same? “You should see my mom with her. They are more sahelis and less saas-bahu. Actually, Bharti is my mother’s best friend.” For him, she is also an inspiration. When she takes on a project, she gives it her all. He has learnt from her. “We are getting paid for this, that’s why we need to make it priority,” he says.

Although he shrugs off the “are you in this to win” question with a “not, really”, Singh then quickly adds, “but the real takeaway is that everyone is impressed with Harsh. It was time he is shining in front of the camera. They’d say, ‘Bharti, tum toh kar logi’, but they see a non-dancer work hard and they love him. Fans now posing for a selfie ask him to be part of the frame.”

The actress also shook a leg on her number Saari Ke Fall Sa with him
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 12, 2017)

Actress on her second single, judging a dance reality show, prepping up for her first live tour with Salman and performing at Bieber's concert
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 15, 2017)

Neha Maheshwri Bhagat (BOMBAY TIMES; January 22, 2016)