Talktime | Rajeev Goswami
After having choreographed for films like Dil Maange More and love Breakups Zindagi, Goswami is now all set to wow Delhi-NCR with his latest theatrical musical — Beyond Bollywood which he haswritten & choreographed. Shalini Saksena chats him up
How did you come up with choreography for this theatrical musicalIJ
I have been choreographing for Bollywood for the last two decades. The industry has taught me a lot and learnt choreography here. But then I went to study more, I found that I wanted something more in the creative side. When we choreograph for films, we are always restricted to narratives. If there is a Gujarati situation, one had to stick to it and add some western fusion to it. I was not getting the flavour right. I wanted a platform where different sounds come together and yet not lose their identity. So a story was woven around the songs in a manner that made sense. When I was studying direction in london, this idea had popped up since I had done some theatre as well and wanted to create a third avenue (besides cricket and Bollywood) for Indians — so I went beyond.
How much time did it take you to finally put it out on the stageIJ
The idea came overnight. But to bring it all together took a long time, one had to convince people of the idea that I had. I had to look for people who were on the same page as I was. To rope in people who have the same vision as I had took time but there were people like Salim-Sulaiman and Irfan Siddiqui (who is also a childhood friend) who alike. So I went up with the idea and it instantly clicked. But we were all busy with our other work. But we would steal time out from our schedules and come together to work on it. It took us three years — I did a lot of research, Irfan also helped a lot.
The difference between choreographing for a stage and a film.
I started my career as a stage choreographer and a dancer. The working is so different — the two platforms are poles apart. There are dos and don’ts. What you do on stage you don’t in films and what you do in films you don’t do on the stage. This is because the vision changes. In films, you can cheat, a director has the liberty to easily divert the attention of the audience by just focusing on one thing by zooming on one thing— here the camera is the eye. On a live stage performance, you are in the open, you can’t cheat the viewers. One mistake and the audience is miffed and walks out.
You said you had to convince people. Were you rejected a lotIJ
Oh yes, many times. People made a lot of fun of my idea and said that it would not work. But then I was lucky enough to meet people like Salim Sulaiman.
What are the challenges on the stageIJ
I think it has always been a challenge for all showmen. There is constant work, polishing required and correction. There is always scope for improvement. A good artist is one who is always improvising and learning and creating and that is what I do.
Are we going to see beyond Beyond BollywoodIJ
For now, my whole focus is on this show. This is because I have yet to satisfy my creative hunger. So I will keep working on this show till my creativity is satisfied and I feel that I have created a perfect show. Yes, we are working on some projects. But I don’t want to work on too commercial projects. I want to bring in something that has not been done before, something unique, something nice and effective and people can connect with. I want the viewers to cry, to laugh. I want all the nine emotions on my audiences’ faces.
How do you react to the viewers’ takeIJ
Since I am out there, I would want to know why the viewers have not liked the show — be it the view of a child or an elderly or even a non-dancer. I would love make the changes if there is no connect with the audience. I love my audience and if there is a flaw I would definitely like to make the necessary changes.