#NachBaliye8: The journey of the 'TRUE Baliyes' Sanam Johar & Abigail Pandey!

Catch the journey of Sanam and Abigail, popularly known as 'AbiNam'.

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Swarupa Tantravahi

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We have to agree to the fact that this season of Star Plus' couple dance reality show Nach Baliye 8, had one of the best contestant line-ups from all of the previous 7 seasons. 

And after a long journey of 3 months, we have our Top 3 - Sanam Johar and Abigail Pandey, Mohit Sehgal and Sanaya Irani and Vivek Dahiya and Divyanka Tripathi.

As clean as the season started, the competition between the top 3 led to some nasty fan wars that we all know about; which was not appreciated by the concerned parties (couples) themselves. But leaving all that behind, one of the above contestants, will clench the coveted 'Nach Baliye 8' Trophy in their hands today evening. 

Recently, we covered the impressive journey of Divyanka Tripathi and Vivek Dahiya. Today, we present the journey of Abigail Pandey and Sanam Johar

While Sanam Johar is an established choreographer in the industry, Abigail is an established actress. And apart from fighting off competition from other co-contestants, Abigail had another challenge for herself which was to match up to her partner Sanam and his excellent dancing prowess.

Here's a glimpse of how the couple made it to the Top 3.  

Performance 1 


Abigail and Sanam set the bar very high with their performance in the opening episode itself. The judges also made it very clear to the jodi that with their dancing skills, they (judges) were going to expect a lot from the couple.  

Performance 2 


The first to depict the concept of 'obsessive love' in their second performance itself, got Sanam and Abigail a standing ovation from their co-contestants. Sanam was so much into his act of being Abigail's obsessive lover, that he apologised profusely to her, for having hurt her during the act. While the judges loved their concept, they felt Sanam and Abigail lacked a bit in dancing and gave them 26 marks.

Performance 3


After receiving comments for their lack of dancing the week before, Sanam and Abigail performed a Kathak fusion to Kala Chashma. And boy! They lived up to everyone's expectations and their act was loved by one and all.

Performance 4


Sanam performed a strip tease of sorts with Abigail pursuing him to the song 'Kissi Ke Haath Na Aayega Yeh Ladka'. While the judges were impressed with the duo's usage of stage and choreography, there were instances where Abigail missed a step or two. Also, the pole with which Sanam was dancing, almost fell off, affecting Sanam and Abigail's balance. But Terence complimented the jodi for continuing their act, despite the glitches. 

Performance 5


Well, this performance is my personal favourite. In a video right before the act, Abigail mentioned how she being a non-dancer, wanted to match steps with Sanam and give him the 'perfect 30' score he craved. And living upto her words, Abigail got Sanam a perfect score. Sanam and Abigail performed an aerial act with water and impressed one and all. Having performed to Half Girlfriend's Baarish track, the duo was complimented by guests Shraddha Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor who felt that they should re-shoot the song in the film and this just was just the first 'perfect 30'.  

Performance 6 

Sanam and Abigail depicted the struggle of young parents and how they try to steal a moment of romance amidst handling a baby. The couple performed to hindi Hop and impressed all 3 judges, including guests Parineeti Chopra and Ayushmann Khurrana.

Performance 7

They recreated magic with the classic Pehla Nasha song, depicting the magical flavour of everyone's first love. The theme mixed with the complete innocence of Sanam and Abigail themselves, was a winner for them with the judges. And while Terence scored the couple a 9, Mohit and Sonakshi both gave a perfect 10 to the jodi.

Performance 8


Sanam and Abigail put up an act depicting the daily life of a couple in a live in relationship. They grooved to the light-hearted and sensuous 'Aae Udi Udi' and even received a grand salute from Terence and their second 'perfect 30' score.

Performance 9


Neither us nor the judges could get over this performance and will not too anytime soon. If Sanam and Abigail weren't good enough dancers already, their brilliant choreographer Khushbu, joined them for the 'kebab mein haddi' round on the show and no prizes for guessing, the trio received a standing ovation from the whole studio and a consecutive 'perfect 30' score for the third time. The trio performed a sensuous act to the song Rasiya. But what actually mattered to the couple even more was the fact that Terrence actually bowed down to Sanam and confessed to have had his iconic moment on Nach Baliye. Mohit Suri too called the act an international level act. 

Performance 10

Having performed with the 13.13 crew to Urban and New School Hip Hop to Remo Dsouza's challenge, Sanam's mentor Remo Dsouza (Dance India Dance) gave the performance a 'killer' title. But the judges were disappointed with Abigail and scored the couple a 33 out of 40.

Performance 11


The best part about this episode was Salman Khan, where he kept pulling Sanam and Abigail's leg right before their performance. Right after the duo's ballet act, Salman was back to teasing Sanam when he was taking off Abigail's shoes. Apart from challenger Terrence giving a standing ovation to Abigail, Salman Khan too called the performance 'phenomenal'. Abigail also had her fan girl moment when Salman crooned his 'Main Hoon Hero Tera' song for her. And then when the scores came, it was no surprise they got their fourth 'perfect 30'.

Performance 12


This weekend we saw Sanam and Abigail get even more filmy with Mohit Suri asking the happy go-lucky couple to depict a heartbreak. The duo crooned to a revamped version of Laal Ishq, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise to one and all. Also, they not only got another standing ovation from Terrence but also from Mohit Suri, once again scored their fifth 'perfect 30'. 

Performance 13


Staying true to Sonakshi Sinha'a challenge of keeping in touch throughout the challenge, Sanam and Abigail choose to maintain this connection physically, which again earned them standing ovation from Sonakshi Sinha and guest Diljit Dosanjh. Terrence acknowledged Sanam's effort of bringing contact dance form to the country and again, the couple scored the highest score in the semi finals, a 29.

Performance 14


The duo dedicated their semi final act to Sanam's mother (a single mother) and performed to the instrumental of the heart wrenching 'Maa' song from Taare Zameen Par. In other words Sanam and Abigail described their journey and the role that Sanam's mother has played in their life so far.

Well, after seeing Abigail's journey, we can assure you of the fact that not only has Abigail managed to make her choreographer-partner, Sanam proud but has also earned herself a fan in judge Terrence Lewis, who has constantly put his faith in Abigail and has acknowledged her improvement with passing acts. Also, the couple was also the only one to have scored a perfect score the 'fifth' time.

AbiNam as a couple peaked right at the end, with Abigail taking the next step and going down on her knees, proposing to Sanam. What more could any guy ask for? 

What we would like to say is that the viewers got to see Sanam and Abigail evolve as a couple on the show. And the icing on the cake for the jodi, will be to win the trophy. 

Would you like to see the couple claim the coveted title? 

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Divyanka Tripathi Thumbnail

Divyanka Tripathi

Abigail Pandey Thumbnail

Abigail Pandey

Mohit Sehgal Thumbnail

Mohit Sehgal

Sanaya Irani Thumbnail

Sanaya Irani

Terence Lewis Thumbnail

Terence Lewis

Ayushmann Khurrana Thumbnail

Ayushmann Khurrana

Sonakshi Sinha Thumbnail

Sonakshi Sinha

Parineeti Chopra Thumbnail

Parineeti Chopra

Sanam Johar Thumbnail

Sanam Johar

Vivek Dahiya Thumbnail

Vivek Dahiya

Dance India Dance Season 3 poster

Dance India Dance Season 3

Nach Baliye 8 poster

Nach Baliye 8

Star Plus thumbnail

Star Plus

Comments (19)

Sanaya Irani and Mohit Sehgal you both have done a great job on NB. All the very best !

5 years ago

Sanaya Irani
Have a relaxing break gorgeous and waiting for you to be back on TV soon !!!

6 years ago

Sanaya Irani and Mohit Sehgal love u both a lot. Come back soon

6 years ago

!@
Sanaya Irani
Hope to have you back on TV soon after a well deserved break

6 years ago

All the best Sanaya Mohit Sehgal for your future!

6 years ago

Sanaya Irani and Mohit Sehgal
Loved you on NB
I felt Sabigail would win though

6 years ago

Enjoyed Sabigail this season but watched NB only for Sanaya Irani and Mohit Sehgal

6 years ago

Sanaya Irani and mohit sehgal you both have done a great job on NB. All the very best for your next show.

6 years ago

True baliye matlab ? Sabigail understandably performed very well this season. Though I was rooting for Sanaya Irani & Mohit Sehgal, I felt Sabigail would win.

6 years ago

A Lovely Couple On Nach Baliye 8 Season Congratulations On Winning 1st Runner Up. You Deserve More But Hope So Wonderful In Future Al The Best Guys ;)

6 years ago

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