'I was scared of lifts, but it didn't last long'

Sizzling the stage with her dance moves in the reality TV show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7, the onscreen goddess Parvati of Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev fame has revealed a new facet to her.

Dancing to Dreamum Wakeapum from the film Aiyya, this celebrity charmed and won over the audience and judges alike with a power-packed Tollywood style performance last weekend. Metrolife spoke to Puja Banerjee as she rehearsed for this spectacular act.

Balancing between her mythological show and the reality TV dance show, the actress says, “These are two different worlds that I am tackling at once. It’s funny how my crew pinpoints at times during my dialogue delivery to say, “It’s more of Puja, you no more sound like Parvati,’”adds the actress in good humour.The world of dancing was unknown to her as she is not ‘professionally trained’, says the celebrity dancer, till we point out her dance album Gori Tere Naina with Govinda in 2013. 

“I was super lucky to dance with the greatest of dancers, Govinda, in his album. But it was different, what we do in Jhalak... is a mix of aerobics, gym and dance. The lifts and splits that we do challenge our physical and mental strength all the time.” “Earlier I used to tell Rajit (Rajit Dev, her choreographer) how scared I am of the lifts that we do. But now I have started enjoying. I often ask him to lift me up and roll around for the act,” says the danseuse who seems to be loving what she’s doing right now.

Speaking about her performances till now, she says, “We have combined Latin Cha Cha with Toco. And now the Tollywood mix got me the maximum marks for my expressions.” 

For the week ahead, her choreographer wants to bank on one of her strengths and perform an act around goddess Kali. About her journey in the show, she says, “I was scared of lifts, that fear didnt last too long. All I am worried about is the pain now, but Rajit says, that too shall pass.”

Sensing the tiredness in her voice, we take our leave but not before one last question – Who is her strongest competitor on the show? 

With the ease of a well rehearsed answer, she says, “Even in the middle of these tight schedules, where I am not getting any rest and having issues with my back, all I want to do is reach the finale. And so does everybody else, so it would be wrong to mention one name.”