Bringing back its popular dance reality show — India’s Best Dancer for its third season, Sony Entertainment Television has set the theme for this season as #HarMoveSeKarengeProve, which celebrates the contestants who prove themselves through their unique moves. The show will see renowned choreographers Geeta Kapur and Terence Lewis reprise their duties as judges alongside a new entrant on the panel who is none other than actress Sonali Bendre. This panel of three judges will assess the performances based on emotions, entertainment, newness in moves and technique. The mega auditions will see selected contestants battling it out in pairs or trios to move to the next round, who will then feature as the top 12 contestants on the show hosted by Jay Bhanushali. Giving a sneak peek of what’s to come this season, dancer Terence Lewis lets us in on what we can expect from the contestants, his new co-judge Sonali and his responsibilities as a ‘technical’ judge…
You have been a part of India’s Best Dancer before. What do you think the latest season of this reality show will look like?
There has been a massive paradigm shift in how dancers prepare and present themselves on stage. Until now, it was considered that the teacher was the best and whatever they had learned from the guru, was the ultimate. But today, kids feel otherwise. They have their own personality. They have their own interpretation of their dance form and are trying to bring their individuality into it. So, definitely, there is a visible difference between the dancers we auditioned in earlier seasons and the ones that have come in for this season because they have their own unique approach, which we get to see on the show.
What is the one thing that you look forward to most in this season?
Earlier, most of the dancers practised one style and would find it challenging to perform another form. As the saying goes ‘jack of all trades, master of none’. But the Gen Z is breaking that stereotype and is proving that you can be a master one and yet be phenomenally good at other styles too. Dancers today have a very multidisciplinary approach towards any art form. They don’t believe that only one thing is good enough and you can clearly see that everyone who has made it into the show has a predominant style that they have mastered for years and now are breaking the rules of that form to create something beautiful and new. But personally, I am excited to see more contemporary dancing this season because the previous season did not have much of that style.
The previous season saw Malaika Arora as part of the judges’ panel. With Sonali Bendre coming on board, how do you think the dynamics of the show will change?
Everything takes time and even with Malaika, it took a little bit of time for all three of us to be on the same page. Like she came in with her knowledge and experience of judging India’s Got Talent and other shows but the points you look for over there are very different from what we look for in this show. And with Sonali too, it has been good, so far, she has a sense of judging dance and that’s very visible in the comments she makes.
We have been told that in this season you will account for perfection in the ‘technique.’ With so many different dance styles and techniques out there, what criteria do you use to determine who should advance to the next round?
This is something that’s very close to my heart. It has really helped me understand why technique is important because it makes dancing very easy. Being asked to be a technical judge is something I feel very proud of because I do realise that it’s a huge task on my shoulders. The technique has changed over the last 10 years and so there are very different parameters and fortunately, I have been a part of that change. Every year in July or August, I fly out to judge the biggest dance competition in the world and I can say whether what these participants are performing has been created by them or not. I have plenty of discussions with them to understand and provide constructive criticism with solid feedback to help them improve.
Every Saturday & Sunday, 8 pm. On Sony Entertainment Television.