Choreographing for Mr Amitabh Bachchan is an experience that we will narrate to our children,” confess Atul Jindal and Karan Kumar excited about the recognition that their work is receiving following the success of Ragini MMS 2 and ahead of the release of Bhoothnath Returns.
The Delhi-based choreographers who run the Big Dance Centre are college-mates from Delhi University’s Khalsa College. Their common interest and similar perspective towards dance pushed them to take it up professionally post their stint in the college’s
western dance team.
“We enrolled in Sadhya (a dance company) and Broadway Dance Center, New York, together and later opened our own company,” informs Atul whose father is a builder while Karan whose father is a teacher adds, “It was in 2010, and since then we have been working hard to reach where we are today.”
During one of their performances, Honey Singh observed their penchant for dance which stayed with him even after he became a big name in the film industry.
“It was 2010 then and in 2013, I got a call one day while I was driving and the person on the other end of the line said ‘Hi I am Yo Yo Honey Singh and I want you to choreograph for my new song,” recounts Atul imparting a humorous tone to the narrative. “I did not even believe at that time that he called up, but the feeling sunk in when I saw his mail containing the song which he wanted to us to choreograph for him along with a request to not to share it with anyone.”
Consequently the hip-hop moves and street-style dance made Honey Singh’s Blue Eyes video a hit and introduced Atul and Karan to Bollywood. “We had been working in our company and making musicals but never wanted to go to Bombay and become commercial. We decided, if they want us, they will calls us (sic),” confides Karan as the twosome plan for their rigorous professional dance study programme in the
coming months.
Both of them consider Honey Singh as their “mentor” and believe in the power of “dance rather than
dance forms.
”
Having been trained in different genres in US, they choreograph keeping in mind “what will look good on the person. While our ‘urban moves’ suit Honey bhai but for Mr Bachchan, we had to keep in mind his personality that he has due to his 40-years of work in the industry,” admits Atul to which Karan contributes, “Mr Bachchan told us during the first meeting ‘Be careful of my old body’” and smiles as both of them narrate tales of the senior artiste’s dedication.
While Karan wants to make Madhuri Dixit dance to his steps, Atul is still not over the “surreal experience with Mr Bachchan” and both emphasise “Don’t dream small, dream big!”