MADHURI DIXIT talks about her song Tabaah Ho Gaye, her character Bahaar Begum from Kalank, and how hardworking Alia Bhatt is as an actress
A little over a week ago, Alia Bhatt invited select members of the media to view her dance number Ghar More Pardesiya from Karan Johar’s period drama Kalank and discuss it over coffee. This was at the Dharma Productions office in Andheri. This morning, it was the turn of that lovely actress Madhuri Dixit to do the same. She’s got a semi-classical Kathak number inTabaah Ho Gaye that’s going to be a treat for her old fans. “Something for them to take home,” Madhuri said outside the preview room. I sat in the darkness and watched the song in silence. Paying little attention to the lyrics. Somewhat awestruck, like her fellow dancers in Tabaah Ho Gaye, with the consummate ease of Madhuri’s movements. She then took me and few other editors to the Dharma conference room where coffee and snacks were waiting. Leading us with an elegant dancer’s walk. It was early. Her stilettoes rhythmically tick-tocked along empty corridors. Then we were seated at a round conference table. And Madhuri took the floor. Here she is, in first person, talking about Tabaah Ho Gaye, the pre-climax number in Kalank:
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“We had to really, really think about this song because the character of Bahaar Begum (who would walk alone in darkness than follow anyone else’s shadow) in Kalank is so strong, so introverted and very guarded, that we couldn’t go all out with her expressions. It was a bit of a tightrope walk. We couldn’t go too under. And at the same time we couldn’t let it be like Devdas, in which my character Chandramukhi could really emote a lot. Bahaar Begum had to be razor sharp. But trying to hold back was the challenge of the song. To keep it in character all the time. The dancing is also little different keeping in mind she’s holding back and not going all out.
“Saroj Khan ji choreographed the entire thing, the girls, their movements, Remo D’Souza helped with the camera movements, physically handling everything, the girls basically, how to come in, go out, this and that. We rehearsed for a couple of days. The last part of the dance, the whole spinning sequence, where I did over 25 chakkars, was shot in one take. Even the music pieces. No breaks. We wanted something the people can take home with them, a memory that will make them think, ‘How did she do it?’ But, you know, I don’t practice Kathak every day. It’s not possible. Whenever I get time, I call the person who plays thetablas and do riyaaz with him. For Tabaah Ho Gaye, we tried different chakkars, half spins, and different expressions. Varun (Dhawan) was on the set the day I shot the song and he tweeted, ‘The fan boy in me can’t even express! Super excited about this one!’
The fanboy in me can’t even! Super excited about this one! #TabaahHoGaye out tomorrow #Kalank@duttsanjay #AdityaRoyKapur @aliaa08 @sonakshisinha @MadhuriDixit @abhivarman @ZeeMusicCompany pic.twitter.com/e7gULZdDgB
— Varun ZAFAR Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) April 8, 2019
“I can understand people saying this reminds them of Devdas. But the character of Bahaar Begum is not like Chandramukhi at all. Chandramukhi was someone who wore her heart on her sleeve. She was in love with Devdas. And she’s all there in the songs Maar Daala and Kaahe Chhed (lyrics, music and accompanying artist was Kathak guru Pandit Birju Maharaj) which was a Kathak classic. Maar Daala was semi-classic. Tabaah Ho Gaye is also semi-classical. But that restraint was necessary to show Bahaar Begum’s character. That’s why it’s very different from Devdas. They’re simply not the same. Alia Bhatt has done a great job, too, with Ghar More Pardesiya considering she’s not trained in Kathak at all. It’s a fast number with a lot of pirouettes. But she’s done it very well. Alia’s a hardworking girl. She loves to work hard. And she worked hard on this number also. You can see that. I know she was relieved we were not dancing together. It would have been fun. She doesn’t realize. But our characters, and the point at which the song Ghar More Pardesiya comes, would not allow us to dance together.”
