Dance, Dance

ABCD releases in February 2013, and stars winners of the reality dance show Dance India Dance. Lauren Gottlieb, winner of the popular US television talent show So You Think You Can Dance, will also feature in the film. In fact, so upbeat is D'Souza about it that he has already announced the film's sequel two months before ABCD's release. "There is a lot to tell the world about dance and one film isn't enough to do so. There are plans for ABCD 2. I have been a dancer and choreographer all my life before I turned director and I want to make as many films on dance as possible in this lifetime," he says. "I will have to work out some cool ideas for the premise of the sequel, as I have given my all to ABCD. But one thing is for sure, the sequel will also have Prabhudheva in the lead,"confirms D'Souza. ABCD also stars Kay Kay Menon and choreographer Ganesh Acharya besides dancers Dharmesh, Salman Yusuff Khan, Mayuresh Wadkar and Vrushali Chavan. "My biggest test wasn't dancing, it was speaking in Hindi," says Prabhudeva adding how the film was D'Souza's idea.

The film is about Vishnu, played by Prabhudheva, India's best dancer, who is thrown out of a dance academy he himself set up, by his manipulative business partner. Heartbroken, Vishnu decides to give up dance and leave Mumbai forever until he witnesses a group of dancers preparing for the upcoming "Ganpati Dance Battle". Watching the raw talent of these dancers makes Vishnu take them under his wing, help them overcome their personal rivalries and turn them into India's best dance squad. Yes, it resembles the basic premise of hit American film series, Step Up.

Speaking of dance, Punjabi listeners have been treated to two dance albums — Ashok Masti's Overnight and Balli Riar's Step Up & Dance. "Dancing, clubbing and reality dance shows are the new passions here, so why not give them more music to dance to," says Riar, who has DJ Varunation's beat on the album as well. A mix of Punjabi and house music, this one caters to the cities where bhangra goes well with hip hop. "Bhangra beat, techno, soft rock, house and hip hop — Overnight has it all," says Masti, whose eight-track album, according to him, is youthful and peppy. "Cities such as Delhi and Mumbai want Punjabi music with a twist, and they all party and go out clubbing. They are not looking for education or preaching, all they want is fun," concludes Masti.

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