'Dance is love and passion for me'

It took Kisna’s heroine Isha Sharwani a few years but now she is back on the silver screen with David, directed by the critically acclaimed Bejoy Nambiar.

An accomplished dancer in her own right Isha has trained for over 15 years in Kathak, Chhau, Kalaripayattu, Yoga, Rope and Pole Mallakhamb.  Though her passion remains dancing, Isha has also experimented occasionally with cinema. In David, where she plays a deaf and mute girl, Isha says, “Acting deaf and dumb was tough. I learnt sign language for the film and what I learnt is that their world is so simple. They have never heard any sound, sport a different mindset and their world is so less cluttered, unlike ours.” She further adds, “Learning the sign language was fun too. My teacher and I would talk in sign language on the sets too. The gestures are amazing and fun.”

Isha had refused Bejoy’s Shaitan but signed up with him this time. “He is a talented director and very honest with his work. I am very proud of this film as it is both entertaining and a good film too. So I am hoping for the best because success is not in our hands.”

Last seen in the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhla Ja - Season V, Isha performed many daredevil acts but had to withdrew because of an elbow injury. “The only regret I have is for the people who voted for me to see me more on TV but unfortunately I had to opt out. For me, it has been one of the best platforms to showcase my art and people could actually see me dancing, which otherwise is not possible.”

Going back to her roots and talking about her initial dancing days, Isha credits her success to her mother Daksha Sheth, an established Kathak dancer herself. “My mother is my guru. I excel in dancing because of my mother. We teach dancing in our academy but only to those who ‘love dancing’ and not those people who just want to learn for the heck of it. I am a performer who has given over 1000 stage shows all over the world and dance for me is passion, love and I do it for God.”

Ace choreographer Remo D’ Souza and dancing giant Prabhu Deva’s film Anybody Can Dance has been in the news. Would she like to make a film on dance too? “No, I am happy like this. I love both of them and their film seems too good but I would not make anything like that.”

Youngsters today are more interested in pursuing dance forms like B Boying, which is becoming very popular, instead of our own dances. Is that a healthy trend? “B-boying, a street dance form of America has already become a global phenomenon. Everybody suddenly wants to learn it because of the cultural influence too. All I want to say is that we should not lose the connection with our culture and art.”

“I know our nation is going through a process of change and, economy is more important than art but we shouldn’t ape the West blindly because culture and art is the reflection of a nation. We should preserve the beautiful culture of India before it gets too late,” adds Isha.