It was a home-coming of sorts for the famed Nach Baliye jodi Sanjeeda Sheikh and Aamir Ali. While Sanjeeda’s association with namma Bengalooru dates back to the Shubham (the Kannada flick in which she acted) days, Aamir has lived in Bangalore for two years. “It feels so good to come back here. It’s special to me as it is my mom’s favourite city. Earlier, the city was more calm and cool, the traffic has increased now. It feels more like Mumbai. Only the weather here is much better,” says Aamir going down the memory lane.

Sanjeeda recalls her professional experience and says that working down South has always been a more organised affair. “I have a few offers from the Kannada film industry, I would definitely like to take them up. It’s just that my TV serial and our stage shows are taking most of my time,” she says. 

After Nach Baliye
Post Nach Baliye, it’s been a really busy affair. We have been touring across the country to participate in shows. But this has been a great experience, adds Aamir. “We are getting to meet the people who voted for us, plus I’ve started enjoying dancing and I’m making a lot of money from it.” So is the Rakhi Sawant outburst then long forgotten?  “See, we all know Rakhi can go to any extent to gain publicity. We just maintained our dignity.
Ultimately we are the winners, who can change that. We are enjoying every minute of our fame. It’s like winning the world cup. It’s the same euphoria attached to the 1983 win. You can earn money, buy a car, but you have to win a trophy,” says Aamir.

Nach Baliye itself has been a great experience. I’ve always loved dancing and was into it, so it was great fun. But the best part of the show was that it helped Aamir and me understand each other better. It was good for our relationship, adds Sanjeeda. Marriage on cards then? “No yaar, we are too young for it. Right now work is our priority,” they say. 

Projects
While Aamir is involved in Kya dil mein hai, Sanjeeda post Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka is working in Kayamat, where she plays Ayesha, a character with negative shades. “I’m really lucky as I’ve got to play the roles of both - a nice daughter, ‘bahu’ and a character with grey shades,” she says. But Aamir says that he likes Nimmo.
“She is so much like the clumsy and simple character. Thank god, she is not clumsy while dancing,” he jokes. If it is Sanjeeda’s simplicity that appeals to Aamir, it is his smile that did her in. “What I also love about him is that he treats me like a princess,” she says.

Another thing that has kept her happy nowadays is Pankh, an art movie by Sanjay Gupta, in which she is acting. “I’ve always wanted to perform Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi kind of roles. There is so much more to my performance here.  Movies when compared to serials allow more experimentation,” she says. Aamir is also involved in a few film projects.