Shaker Moves On

For someone who stumbled into dance direction by accident 8212; Mansoor Khan, whom she was assisting on Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, asked her to step in and film a song on Aamir Khan when original choreographer Saroj Khan failed to show up for the shoot 8212; Farah has clearly come a long way, notching up some of the most memorable musical hits to her name. And at 26, it couldn8217;t have been easy to break into an industry that was dominated by the likes of such seniors as Chinni Prakash and Saroj Khan. 8216;8216;I was fortunate that around the same time when I was starting out as a choreographer, a bunch of young directors with new ideas and open minds were also entering Bollywood,8217;8217; she says, mentioning Mansoor Khan, Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar as some of the filmmakers who hired her to give their songs a youthful look, and one that was different from the typical Bollywood naach gaana routine.

In her efforts to take film choreography to a new level, Farah admits to having bent many rules. 8216;8216;I8217;d always have these run-ins with the Dancers8217; Union because I8217;d use younger dancers who weren8217;t necessarily members of the Union,8217;8217; she reveals. But the Union didn8217;t exactly make life for her any simpler. 8216;8216;When my dancers did register with the Union, they were charged Rs 51,000 instead of Rs 21,000, which is what they normally charge other dancers.8217;8217;

Her troupe has always comprised mostly young collegians who are keen to shake a leg or two because they enjoy it, and most of them will agree that Farah has made dancing for Bollywood a respectable career option. 8216;8216;I have boys and girls in my team who are well-educated, and from well-to-do families,8217;8217; she says. 8216;8216;The scene has changed completely. It8217;s no longer one of those things you get into because of a majboori on your part,8217;8217; she adds. 8216;8216;It8217;s a lucrative career now, with perks like travel thrown in.8217;8217;

Determined to break the love-song stereotype of a hundred dancers gyrating behind the couple in question, Farah says her idea of a perfect love song would be the kind of subtle numbers you8217;d find in films by Guru Dutt or Vijay Anand. 8216;8216;My brother and I have grown up laughing at those ridiculous songs you8217;d find in those South Indian films8230; you know, the ones with pots and fruits and flowers,8217;8217; she guffaws unabashedly, then sheepishly confesses that there are songs she8217;s choreographed in her early years on the job that she8217;s a trifle embarrassed by. 8216;8216;Invariably, they8217;ll pop up on television, and my brother will rib me about them no end.8217;8217;

A highlight in her life, she says, is the time she was introduced to Michael Jackson in New York at an awards function some years ago. Why that moment means so much to her, she says, is because she8217;s always idolised the Bad entertainer since her childhood days. 8216;8216;He was one of the reasons why I became a choreographer,8217;8217; she reveals. 8216;8216;However, it will be a full circle when I get the opportunity to choreograph one of his shows or a music video, perhaps,8217;8217; Farah says. Although you might be tempted to laugh at the improbability of that dream ever being realised, you have to admit that the lady has achieved more than anyone herself included might have expected from her.

That8217;s probably why her mother chided her when she dilly-dallied before signing the contract for Bombay Dreams. 8216;8216;There were some terms I needed to have changed, and I asked for that, but my mum got really mad at me, and she said I was being a fool not to sign it immediately, and that I might lose the job completely,8217;8217; she remembers. As luck would have it, Webber was eager to have Farah on board because not only did she come highly recommended from Shekhar Kapur, she was also the choreographer behind every Bollywood dance number that Webber had enjoyed, while sifting through dozens of tapes containing footage of song-and-dance numbers from MTV.

Once signed up and working on the musical in London, Farah says she became a sort of unofficial consultant on all things Indian. 8216;8216;I was very clear that nothing in the show should be embarrassing to Indians, and as far as my own job was concerned, I was determined not to make the dancing look like a watered-down West End version of Bollywood. It had to be full-throttle Hindi movie dancing,8217;8217; she explains, pointing those over-the-top set pieces including leading man Raza Jaffrey8217;s pelvic thrusts and Ayesha Dharker8217;s bust-heaving.

On the opening night at the Apollo Victoria last month, Farah says she was ecstatic to see a bunch of her closest buddies from Mumbai cheer her from the aisles when she went up to take a bow. All dressed up for her big night, Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Mani Ratnam, Rajiv Menon, and Sajid Nadiadwala beamed from the audience when Farah shared the stage with Webber and Rahman. 8216;8216;My mum was most excited, because I made Michael Caine wave out to her,8217;8217; Farah says, then adds that 8216;8216;my brother Sajid came and screwed it up by telling him that he really liked him in Jaws 4, which, from the look on Michael Caine8217;s face was definitely not one of his favourite films.8217;8217;

While on the one hand she has Bollywood8217;s brightest lot dancing to her tunes Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan swear by her, Farah8217;s chequered career hasn8217;t been without controversy either. Once friends, she fell out with Sanjay Leela Bhansali after working together on the songs for Vidhu Vinod Chopra8217;s 1942: A Love Story, which both claim they were solely responsible for. More recently, she had a spat with Karisma Kapoor and has vowed never to work with the actress again. 8216;8216;You have to respect what I do because I8217;m good at it. I don8217;t need unnecessary stress. If I feel like I8217;m not going to have a good time working with a person, then I8217;d rather not go there at all,8217;8217; she explains. In such cases, the filmmaker has the option to choose between Farah and the actor/actress she8217;s sparring with. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala replaced Karisma Kapoor with Preity Zinta in Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega when he realised he needed to make a choice, and when Karan Johar was casting for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, he made it more than clear to Kareena Kapoor that she8217;d have to get along with Farah if she wanted to be in the film.

When putting together her own film, which she expects to begin shooting before the year-end, Farah needn8217;t worry about working with actors she can8217;t get along with. Shah Rukh Khan, a close friend, will not only star in her directorial debut, but will also produce the film under his personal banner. 8216;8216;It8217;s going to be a totally commercial film, I8217;m clear about that,8217;8217; she says. Titled Main Hoon Naa8230;, the only thing that scares her about turning director is the expectations that people will have from her as far as the dancing8217;s concerned. 8216;8216;It had better be good,8217;8217; she says of the songs which she will herself choreograph. 8216;8216;I don8217;t know how we8217;re going to beat Chaiyya chaiyya, though8230;8217;8217;