Meet Elisha Mayor, the star power stealing the spotlight in Hai Junoon!
In a conversation with Indulge, Elisha Mayor exudes the same quiet intensity and poise that defines her performance in Hai Junoon!, the breakout musical drama currently streaming on JioHotstar. Her role in the high-energy world of dance battles and college rivalries stands out not just for her screen presence, but for the depth she brings to the character.
Excerpts:
Your performance in Hai Junoon! has been described as quietly powerful. How did you approach building this character’s emotional arc within such a high-energy setting?
I think the whole story and the entire show is written in a very layered way. There's a very good balance between all the high-energy dance sequences, the music sequences, the performance and all the character arcs.
Munmun in specific had a solid arc from the get-go and once her truth comes out halfway through the show, her real identity is revealed to the everybody around her. So there was always a very solid balance, even on paper, in Munmun's life between the misfits and her personal life because there's so much going on in her personal life as well. She's going through an identity crisis. She's falling in love with a boy who belongs to the other, the opponents, right? So my job was to embrace all aspects of Munmun's college life and be true to her emotions.
As a trained Kathak dancer with a Prabhakar degree, how did your classical background influence your portrayal in the show’s dance sequences?
The dance form that I have trained in is very different from the dance forms we had to do in the show. While I have done Kathak, all our dance sequences were related to hip-hop. We had to do locking, popping, breaking and all of that. Kathak is a very graceful dance form in which you are required to have a very strong posture. It has a lot of delicate movements, a lot of nazakat.
But what did help was a strong foundation. What helped was the footwork and the turns because Kathak has a lot of quick turns. So that really helped.
The only difference was here I was having to do hip-hop. So I remember in our song Ghungroo, there was a sequence where I had to take very, very fast turns, around six to eight turns.
And another separating factor that really helps when you have learnt a dance form like Kathak is your expressions. Because even if you are doing hip-hop, you can only enjoy it when you're also allowing yourself to express with your face, which is not normal or which is not usual for hip-hop dancers.
You mentioned manifesting a role like this — what made Hai Junoon! feel like the right project at the right time?
While I had done shows like Kaala, Cat and Dil Dosti Dilemma, I was really missing dancing on screen because even after experimenting with different genres like crime thrillers and doing one young adult show, I am a dancer turned actor and my ultimate dream since I was a little kid has always been to dance on screen like Madhuri Dixit.
So I think when the opportunity to test for Haije Noone came across, it felt like it was the first step towards it and this project challenged me in very different ways, like the character that I did, Munmun, was very different from who I am and the dance style that I had to do was very different from what I had trained in.
From Heeramandi to Kaala, CAT, and Dil Dosti Dilemma, you’ve picked roles with a wide emotional range. How do you choose your projects? What draws you to a story?
I think this is a combination of two aspects. Initially, when you are starting out as an actor, you don't really have a lot of choice. You just do your best with whatever opportunities come your way, whatever auditions you get. And I think I was very blessed with being given an opportunity to be a part of shows like Cat and Kala. So that was a combination of hard work and luck.
But towards Dil Dosti Dilemma, I think I chose that project because it was a very good genre shift for me. It was a young adult theme and a very different world for me to explore as an actor.
And now going forward in the future, when I'm given a choice to choose between projects, I think I would rely highly on my instinct plus what seems challenging to me. Because I love to challenge myself and grow through those challenges.
With Hai Junoon! Getting so much love, what kind of characters or genres are you most excited to explore next?
In terms of genres, I think I want to explore varied genres like mythological dramas, going into a comedy.
In terms of characters, I think there's a lot of different aspects to my personality and they long to explore different characters. Like the Kathak dancer that I am, I really want to do a Mastani or Chandramukhi or Paro on screen and I would also like to play eccentric and out-of-the-box characters like a Rani in Queen or a Miranda Priestly in Devil Wears Prada.
And apart from all this, there's also a side to me that really wants to explore and sort of redefine the girl next door. For example, a character like Konkana Sen Sharma in Wake Up Sid.
If you could give your younger self, the one just starting out as a Miss Universe finalist, one piece of advice, what would it be?
Trust in your inner voice and do not allow the noises around you to dictate how you feel about things and especially about yourself. Learn how to chill sometimes because I've always been too hard on myself and I've realised the importance of chilling and relaxing sometimes, letting go.
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