Madhuri Dixit's new stint on television

& TV’s new reality show So You Think You Can Dance will see Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit take the mantle of judging once again. The battle this time revolves around the theme ‘stage versus street’. We spoke to the actress at the launch of the show. Excerpts..

You must have had a good reason to move from Jhalak to So you think you can dance. Your thoughts on the switch?
I did four to five seasons of Jhalak. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it. Of course, I did.  But the show had all celebrities. So you think... on the other hand is about common people. When you judge a show like this, what you find in the end is not only the best dancer, but the person with the most grit. Connecting with the audience is also important. I am really glad that I am doing it.

How is this show different from other shows?
We begin where the other shows end. We are not showing the journey of a non-dancer turning into a dancer. Our contestants are born dancers. The show is about their struggles to adapt to different dance styles. The challenges offered to them are also going to be phenomenal. They will be made to do their own choreography. We were surprised at the choreography they did. As the show unfolds, people will realise the dancing is terrific and that’s how we will get our audience.

You are very emotional as a person and judging is a ruthless job. How will you manage to keep your emotions at bay ?    
Yes, that’s reality — we do get involved emotionally with the contestants.  We are already feeling attached to some.

The hardest thing you can do is say no to someone because you know how much they have struggled to come here. But we  have a competition at the end of the day and the best ones have to get in. If you take people with moving stories because you are emotional, it’s not fair to the person who is dancing well.

Has Mr Nene tried dancing with you? Does he admit that it’s difficult to match steps with you?
(Laughs) He has said that a couple of times whenever we go clubbing. In fact, for my website ‘Dance with Madhuri’ we had done  a class with non dancers. It had Manish Paul and my husband. We have amazing moves. The non dancers can easily learn to dance.

You have worked with the  three Khans in Bollywood — who is the best dancer ?                                                                                                                  

I can’t have favourites but I think Salman is a good dancer. He has evolved with time. Shah Rukh is like a breeze. He always said ‘Madhuri tum lead karo main follow karta hoon’. Aamir is very particular. They all have their own styles and charm.”