Bosco Martis Exclusive Interview: “Dance India Dance Creates Stars Out Of Talents”

After six successful seasons, Zee TV is back with the latest season of its immensely popular dance reality show, Dance India Dance. The new season is going to be bigger and grander than all its previous installments, something that the viewers all over the world are really looking forward to.

Besides a pool of talented dancers who have gathered together from the nooks and corners of the country, what makes Dance India Dance 7 a must watch is the panel of judges on the show. Dance India Dance 7 has enormously talented Bosco Martis, Raftaar and Kareena Kapoor Khan gracing the judging panel.

On the occasion of the grand launch of Dance India Dance 7 in Mumbai, STARBIZ correspondent Mohnish Singh caught up with choreographer Bosco Martis on the magnificent set of the show and tried to find more about the new show, co-judge Kareena Kapoor Khan and its competition with another dance reality show on a rival channel. Bosco Martis also opens up about his directorial debut, which is set to be Indian cinema’s first dance horror comedy. Excerpts...

How did Dance India Dance happen to you?

I was offered the first season of Dance India Dance but, at that time, my journey was a little different. I was busy choreographing Bollywood songs. I wanted that space because I belong there. Right now, it was the perfect opportunity for me to explore this space as well. Dance India Dance is one of the shows that creates stars out of talents. To see that journey is very important. Zee (Studios) is also producing my film. So it turned out to be a good amalgamation. It is a great place to explore some talent for my film also because it is going to be a dance-based film.

You just mentioned about your directorial debut. Could you please shed some more light on it?

So it is a dance horror comedy. The ABCD franchise is almost a Step Up world but, again, India had not seen it. So that was very exciting for the nation to see something like that as that world was unexplored before.

I did not want to be another choreographer who tells an underdog story. I wanted to entertain my audience in my own way and language. I wanted to have my own identity as a storyteller. So I thought that the world of dance horror comedy was not explored. The thought came to me and I penned the story down. It just fell into place.

So the film is going to have dance, horror, and comedy. Where did the idea come from?

It just came. It was something that I wanted to tell. It just came to me and I felt I should tell this story because it reaches out to a more range of people.

Have you finalized the star cast for your directorial debut?

No, not yet.

Do you have anyone in mind?

It’s too early to say. We are just about to finish the first draft.

Will it be a franchise film?

Let’s see. It depends on what the film has to say. But I wish it can be a franchise because then you will have a whole world and more reach.

Dance reality shows like Dance India Dance have made choreographers a household name across the country. Earlier, not many people knew about them.

I think it’s fantastic. For the first time, a choreographer gets a face. You know, whenever they talk about a song on the radio, they just mention the name of the singer and lyricist. The name of the choreographer of the song is never mentioned. I feel that as a technician, every choreographer puts in the same amount of efforts in creating a song as does a singer or the lyricist. So that is an area where the choreographer needs to get that identity.

Your show will be competing with another dance reality show on a rival channel. How do you look at it?

I don’t think that there is any comparison. I think our journey is very different than theirs. I think the show will speak its own language and the audience will decide what is good and what is not. We just have to see the show. We have just to perform and tell a story. Every medium has competition. It’s good to have a competition to know how to push the bar.

In what ways Dance India Dance 7 is going to be different from previous seasons?

The whole stage of Dance India Dance 7 is in itself a new world. There are four zones. There are around 120 cameras which will capture each and every moment of a participant’s performance. So the performer has to be aware of the way he or she is going to perform. The format, again, is a new world that we are going to see.

How are you planning to judge the show?

I would like to share my experience with all the participants. While judging them, I will make most of my experience and tell them what more needs to be done, what else can be incorporated in the performance to make it better, etc. So I will probably help them in that way.

You have choreographed Kareena Kapoor Khan multiple times in the past and now she is co-judging Dance India Dance along with you and Raftaar. Tell us something about her.

Yeah, I have done several songs with Kareena. The best part about her is that whenever she dances, she dances with her face. She is such a performer that even if she finds any step awkward, she does not let it show on her face. She is fantastic when it comes to performances. She is somebody who just enjoys her dancing being a superstar. That’s fantastic.

Is there any actor on your wish list that you want to choreograph?

I have worked with almost everyone in the industry. But I feel I enjoy working a lot with Ranbir Kapoor. Whenever we work together, it does not feel like we are working. It’s a lot of fun working with him.

Even with Ranveer Singh, it’s a lot of madness whenever we work together. But with Ranbir Kapoor, it is a different world. When you meet different people, you share different energies. It’s positive all the time. We have fun whenever we work together.

Because you have the closest relation to dance among the three judges, are you going to be the strictest judge on the show?

I don’t think so because I am not that kind of a person. I will be looking at the technical language of performance. I am going to be an easy one who will definitely give participants instructions. And that is my experience. I am not going to a school which will educate people. I am going to share my experiences on what dance is and what looks good because I have come from that background. I have not come from a dance college where I learnt dancing. I have come from a natural background. I have explored dancing and made dancing my life. So I am going to share those experiences with them. I am going to have my way of putting things.

You have made it big on your own. How do you see your journey in Bollywood?

It has been a fantastic journey. I have been a sportsman more than being a dancer. So that journey from being a sportsman to becoming a choreographer has been very humble and enriching. I think a dancer should always be a sportsman so that he can also take failures very easily. It’s very important for him to get that. Failure is very important for you to rise above. So it has indeed been a great journey.

Nowadays, most of the television reality shows focus a lot of participants’ sob stories. What do you have to say about the trend?

I just feel that everybody comes with a story. It is just the way people react to it. You say that they are showing sob stories, but I think the audience itself wants to know their stories. If everybody comes happy, there is no story. If you get everything easily in life, even you will feel at some time, “What is this? There is nothing interesting.” But if somebody rises from the dust, then you like their journey.

But some shows overdo it.

I don’t think that is what we are looking at. It is eventually the talent that will shine. You would like to know about somebody’s journey only if he or she impresses you with their talent.

Dance India Dance premiered on 22^nd June on ZEE TV.