Right from her first song, Dhol Baje, to the recent Jabra, we have loved Vaibhavi Merchant's choreography. She tells Arjita Mishra that Shah Rukh Khan is her favourite student as he follows each and every instruction given to him
What was it like, shooting for JabraIJ
I shot for Jabra in a not so great situation of my life. I was looking after my father who was admitted in the hospital because he was suffering from mouth cancer and was going through chemotherapy. Unfortunately, Rani (Mukherjee) also got admitted at the same time, for her delivery. So, on one hand my best friend was admitted and on the other, so was my father but I was committed to shooting the song. I went ahead with it even though I was under a lot of stress during the shooting. But I think Jabra also played a major role in diverting my mind. I had very less time to prepare and plan for it. The experience I had was excellent because at a time like that you need a Shah Rukh Khan in your life because he is someone who makes your life easier by just being on self-mode. With Shah Rukh, you don’t need to say much, he automatically starts to do what is required. Jabra for me somewhere will be special, because the song released on the day I lost my father. It’s very strange and bizarre to attach a painful memory with such a happy song. A lot of people don’t know about it because I was very quiet as I was going through my personal crisis but now I am back to my work.
You have worked with Shah Rukh Khan in many of his ventures. How have you seen him evolving as an actorIJ
Shah Rukh is getting younger by the day and I don’t know what he is doing to himself (laughs) but I knew a far more mature Shah Rukh during the initial part of my working years. I have done Devdas, Veer- Zaara, et al. with him. Every time we meet, he surprises me. When he came as Gaurav on the set, we couldn’t recognise him because he had lost so much weight to fit into the character. To see him with such dedication in every film is something I will have to get used to, I guess. There can be many actors (newcomers) who can come to the industry, there can be other stars as well but Shah Rukh Khan is one of a kind. Not only me, but my entire team praises him because he is a team worker. He will never complain about anything. It is not easy to keep standing under the scorching sun and that, too, with so much make-up on and give 10 to 15 takes, and keep dancing continuously for a good shot till I call for a cut. There will be a time when people will say ‘No I can’t do this’ but there is never ‘I can’t do this’ with Shah Rukh. He is someone who will never ask questions like ‘Vaibhavi, why are you making me dance for such lengthy durationsIJ’ or ‘Why are we doing thisIJ’ He will listen to you and will understand what you want. Calling him a hard worker would be an understatement.
What did you keep in mind considering you were choreographing for a character and not for a starIJ
The first thought I had was that Gaurav’s character is of a fan who is struck by the stardom of Aryan Khanna and grows up watching a film of this man and there is a certain amount of madness yet there is something very simple about him. So, it is about how would he dance because it had to look seamless, as if no one had choreographed it. I had to approach it in that way and that was my challenge. On the first day, I kept thinking of how to get the Jabra step till 4am. But when you see the actor right in front of you, in the costume, the dimension changes completely. Then you re-think your steps all over again and change the steps, and you get better and better with each shot.
How long did it take to shoot the songIJ
We shot it for two and a half days. I don’t know how but yes we finished it early. People asked whether we actually wrapped up in that short a time and I said yes. See, when you have an actor like Shah Rukh, you don’t count the days. Once he is on the sets, you are just rolling. I have worked many times with Yash Raj and for me, it has given me infrastructure, team, and production. We have an understanding between us and the production house knows that we are very clear with the way we work. We do a lot of homework before we go on sets.
With whom are you more comfortable while choreographingIJ Who is your favourite studentIJ
All the actors who have reached the top are not there just by their luck alone. They have reached there on account of the hard work they have put in. For me, it is important that I choreograph the actors by keeping in mind their respective comfort zones. I like to understand their state of mind and work according to their strengths. I always like to bring out their plus points and am responsible for making them look good or bad. So I have to be very careful. I honestly don’t have any favourite, but if you ask me with whom I am most comfortable working on set with, then it is definitely Shah Rukh.
How have you seen the industry change over the years in terms of accepting new dance stylesIJ
The new generation of actors are really good. Actually, they are all-rounders. They are singing their own songs, dancing and doing everything. I have seen two generations of actors coming in, in all the years that I have been active. Many of them have gone but few of them have managed to make their space in the industry. The Khans are still ruling, which is great according to me. The present generation, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and all of them are fabulous. They are hard working and are following their seniors very well.
What are your future projectsIJ
My current projects are Sultan and Befikre. And there are few more projects on which are still being discussed upon but since I have not confirmed it yet, I cannot really disclose further details about it.