Before Shah Rukh Khan and his Happy New Year team wins us over with their dancing skills, read this.
Song and dance is the heartbeat of Bollywood masalas.
And sometimes, filmmakers use it as a plot device to generate spice and sizzle in the story.
In Farah Khan’s Diwali offering Happy New Year, the choreographer-turned-director sets her heist plot against an international dance competition wherein her leading stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah are part of a troupe that rocks to the beats of Indiawaale.
While we keenly anticipate the glitzy entertainment HNY will unleash, here’s a look at Bollywood’s depiction of dance-offs in the movies.
ABCD-Any Body Can Dance
Dance is the focus of all attention in the runaway hit directed by choreographer Remo D’Souza and starring ace hot stepper Prabhu Dheva as the dance mentor of a group of young underdogs to accomplish the film’s motto and an electrifying win at the said Dance Dil Se competition.
Student of the Year
In Karan Johar’s high-school fantasy, part of the curriculum requires Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt to prove their dancing skills against Disco Deewane to nab the coveted ‘Student of the Year’ trophy.
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Shah Rukh Khan juggles between boring husband and bratty dance partner to win over young bride Anushka Sharma, under the pretext of rehearsing for a local dance contest Dancing Jodi, in the Aditya Chopra romance Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Shaad Ali’s musical Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is so consumed by its magnificent soundtrack it completely forgets about that thing called plot. Instead what you get is a forced but fabulous dance off between Team Bobby-Preity and Team Abhishek-Lara.
Lafangey Parindey
In Lafangey Parindey, Neil Nitin Mukesh’s street style boxer pairs up with Deepika Padukone in a blind avatar to skate dance for the sake of an all-important dance completion judged by the likes of Juhi Chawla and Javed Jaffrey. No prizes for guessing who wins.
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander
Who can forget the cutthroat rivalry between the Rajputs, Queens and Model School’s Pajamachaaps as they set the stage on fire with one boogie-woogie session after another? And for once, it’s the spoilt kids (Deepak Tijori, Pooja Bedi) who beat the good guys (Aamir Khan, Mamik).
Khoon Bhari Maang
Rekha and Sonu Walia engage in a sexy game of one-upmanship to find favour in Kabir Bedi’s eyes in Rakesh Roshan’s revenge drama, Khoon Bhari Maang in the amusing shimmy contest, Main Haseena Ghazab Ki.
Rocky
Rahul Dev Burman’s Aa Dekhen Zara is synonymous with that bubbling feeling of rivalry, amply demonstrated by Sanjay Dutt and Reena Roy up against Shakti Kapoor and Tina Munim in the star son’s adult debut, Rocky.
Amrapali
Even Lekh Tandon’s lavish period drama doesn’t hold back in showcasing a classical dance off between two sensational dancers Vyjayanthimala and Madhvi vying for the designation of Rajnrityaki in the 1966 film, Amrapali.
Dr Vidya
Two of Bollywood’s most revered dancers Vyjayanthimala and Helen aren’t the least insecure to tease each other in Dr Vidya’s thrilling, lengthy contest Aaye Haye Dilruba.
