Aditi Rao Hydari reacts to her viral Gajagamini walk from Heeramandi, says Sanjay Leela Bhansali appreciated that she’d put on weight

Aditi Rao Hydari revealed that she aced the Gajagamini walk for Heeramandi in less that four takes.

Mumbai | May 18, 2024 10:06 AM IST

3 min read

Aditi Rao Hydari in Heeramandi song "Saiyaan Hatto Jaao".

Among the myriad clips from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar that are doing the rounds on social media, Aditi Rao Hydari’s seductive ‘Gajagamini’ walk from the song “Saiyaan Hatto Jaao” has become one of the most memorable images from the divisive show. Aditi, who played Bibbojaan in the series, spoke about the shot being widely shared on social media and being recreated on Reels.

In an interview, the actor confessed that she doesn’t know exactly what the walk is called, because it’s not something she’s learnt as a Bharatnatyam dancer. She said that the walk was something that Bhansali asked her to do. Talking to Zoom, Aditi said, “I want to ask somebody, Sanjay sir, my dance teacher, what is it? Is it the Gajagamini walk, the swan walk? What walk is that I don’t know! I’ll say it was what Sanjay sir asked me to do. I followed Sanjay sir and what he told me. I know in Kathak there is Mayur chaal (peacock walk), then there is Gajagamini (walk of seduction), but I am sure it is in all the dance forms but I don’t know, I should find out.”

About the clip of her walk going viral, she said, “Whatever I see on Instagram, Reel upon Reel, the whole viral nature of that tukda (piece) is so overwhelming.” She added that getting the walk right has been a journey in itself. Aditi also revealed that while she would be rehearsing her steps with the choreographers, SLB would be there too, as “he is very good at spotting magic on the spot” and he created a lot of nuances in the process.

Also read | As Aditi Rao Hydari’s walk from Heeramandi song Saiyaan Hatto Jaao goes viral, we ask kathak experts if it’s actually the ‘gaj gamini’

Aditi also shared that Sanjay was very particular about how she looks during the walk, the way her dupatta flows, among other things. “He said that he wanted that dupatta to fall on a particular beat, the head to turn and the ‘chann‘ (sound of the ghungroo) to come exactly on the beat, so it was all his thought and his creation,” she said. Aditi also recalled that Bhansali appreciated that she wasn’t as ‘petite’ as she normally is when she first met him for the role. She told him that she could reduce the extra weight that she’d put on in 10 days, but he forbid her from doing it because he felt that she looked ‘beautiful’.

While Bhansali is known to be demanding on set, Aditi said that it didn’t take her too long to nail the walk. She said that she got the ‘Gajagamini’ walk in “not too many, maybe three of four” takes, and that the entire song sequence took about three or four days to complete. Heeramandi is streaming on Netflix. The show stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha, Shekhar Suman, Fardeen Khan, among others.

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