Got the Groove
Shekhar Suman dances on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 4.
Jhalak Dikhla Jaa
Remodelled on two popular dance shows Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With The Stars, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa is back in its fourth season. There are 12 celebrity contestants from different walks of life who team up with their respective choreographers and compete with each other for the top slot. Each episode has the teams perform a different dance form. Each week also sees the elimination of one contestant depending on the scores given to them by the judges and the votes they from the viewers.
The dance show has already seen three successful seasons, but what really sets the current season apart is the presence of Madhuri Dixit, who is back on the small screen after an eight-year hiatus. In India for a brief spell, Dixit seems to have caught the fancy of viewers and has become the USP of the show. She is accompanied by item queen Malaika Arora-Khan, who is riding high on the success of Munni badnaam hui from Dabangg and choreographer Remo D'Souza, who was earlier seen judging Dance India Dance on Zee TV. The contestants are a good mix — TV actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Ankita Lokhande, Ragini Khanna, Dayanand Shetty and Mahi Vijj, singer-turned-anchor Meiyang Chang, pop artsite Anushka Manchanda, actor-comedian Shekhar Suman, boxer Akhil Kumar, model Yana Gupta, stand-up comedian Krushna Abhishek and actor-turned-director Renuka Shahane. Sony has roped in Mona Singh and Sumeet Raghavan to anchor the show.
The show's biggest draw has been the opportunity it gives to celebrities who are not associated with dancing to explore the talent they may have in them for the performance art. Watching the non-dancers trying to match steps with their choreographer partners is extremely entertaining and sometimes even endearingly hilarious. But the fourth season so far has been all about Dixit and her performances to her hit film tracks, such as Humko aaj kal hai and Dhak dhak, which got her standing ovation from the studio audience. Dixit dancing with Akshay Kumar (a celebrity guest) on the show to Dil to pagal hai is definitely a moment that will go down in the show's history. The other two judges, Khan and D'Souza, have a fair knowledge of most dance forms and guide the contestants with their expert advise. The show so far has steered clear of any controversy or catfights, and this is what makes the viewing worth it.
The show embraces a variety of international dance forms, but, at the end of the day, most of them appear to be strictly Bollywood style. The focus on Dixit is a tad excessive, with every contestant wanting to narrate an anecdote or wish-list to her, putting the other two judges a little out-of-focus. Her American twang too gets a thumbs down from us, because we are so used to her desi avatar. Unfortunately, even Jhalak with Dixit's presence cannot be immune to the onslaught of film publicity—-films stars make appearances to promote their upcoming releases and dance to the popular dance numbers from their respective film.
Verdict: ***
Watch it for the effort and hard work that the contestants put into their performances. Or if you're a fan, watch it for Dixit, the dancing diva.
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