Choreographer Dharmesh Yelande says that reality TV talent hunt shows are important as they provide the aspiring artists a push to pursue their dreams. By Chahak Mittal
In a dancer’s world, taking off one’s shoes is equal to paying respect or giving a grand salute. Not many a times do we see a renowned choreographer paying tribute to somebody else’s phenomenal talent. However, we recently witnessed something like that on one of the reality TV shows.
The show Dance+ season four, that aired on Star Plus, recently saw choreographer Remo D’souza taking off his shoes for dancer and choreographer and also one of the judges on the show, Dharmesh Yelande, to salute him for the kind of concept he had introduced on the stage. Dharmesh’s creativity and brilliant concept of using a single camera in one performance on the reality TV show made Remo offer Dharmesh an opportunity to choreograph a song for his forthcoming dance-based film, ABCD3.
While talking about how he was grateful for it, Dharmesh said, “It’s a huge chance. I am very thankful for it as Remo (sir) has always been an inspiration. He is my guru.”
On the show, the first two contestants to become finalists and in top four belong to Dharmesh’s team, namely, V Unbeatable and Vartika Jha. Adding to this, Vartika has been the first ever contestant and finalist to have won the chance of being a part of Remo’s dancing film as well.
While praising the dancer, Dharmesh said that there is no one else on the show currently who can compete or beat Vartika, as “she is one of the most versatile dancers that I have watched and known and that too after a very long time.”
Someone who has been a part of numerous reality TV shows and also won a few, like Boogie Woogie, Dance India Dance (DID) 2, Dance India Dance Li’l Champs, who better than him can tell about how helpful such shows could be for aspiring artists. He felt that all those who come to such reality shows, their actual journey of struggle and working begins after the show is over. “They feel that post show, they’ll head back home and there will be a splash of selfies and interviews all around them. This may happen, but will only last for a while. I always tell the contestants that your real journey of success will begin after the show ends,” he said.
Adding to this, he believed that even though a reality show is indeed a platform to begin from, it won’t turn one into a celebrity or make one a master. “It just provides an initial push that is important to grow. By such applause and appreciation, one indeed wishes to keep growing in the field. They are mentored under experts and get new experiences. Hence, these are an important platform for budding artists to follow their dream profession. For instance, when I were a part of DID, I was being mentored under Geeta (ma’am) and Remo (sir). Now, I had got such a huge push, that I am a captain at another reality TV show. See it’s just one move,” he laughed.
Well, there’s not just one such reality show that is ruling the prime time on the TV today. There are multiple dance, singing and talent hunt shows on every other channel, so many that one might even get confused as to which one to watch. Bonus, however, is that each one of it has unbeatable and talented performers.
Dharmesh felt that it’s mostly about business and money. There were only one or two shows when he first appeared on Boogie Woogie. He said, giving an example, “If somebody opens a concept-based store at some famous road of a city, people look at him getting increasingly popular and accepted, now they will also want to try something similar and make the most out of it. One will go and sell the same kind of stuff just next to him, followed by the third, and then the fourth. Gradually, the whole street is full of same kind of stores.” Something similar, he believed, happened with the case of reality TV shows as well.