Ace choreographer Shiamak Davar, who has directed the steps of many actors in a number of films, recently opened up about choreographing Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the 2006 hit, Dhoom 2. The film released 14 years ago on this day.
The choreographer shared his experience working with them. He also opened up about how the two stars took to his style of dancing in the film. Read on.
“In ‘Dhoom 2’, I had Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan. Being probably the coolest dancers ever, it wasn’t very difficult for me to make them look cool because they are cool, and I love the fact that I was given a chance to work. I am very grateful that people consider it a benchmark in the industry for dance. I think I owe a lot to my dancers because when your dancers and the stars look good, then I, as a choreographer, look good,” Shiamak Davar said.
“I had worked with Aishwarya in ‘Taal’ and before she became Miss World I had worked with her in a Sufi jazz piece, so she was already close to understanding my style and delivering it really well. Hrithik was very new to what I do, but the best part about Hrithik was that he is just so natural and my kind of style worked well on him,” Shiamak Davar added.
Shiamak continued, “I think Hrithik was also quite excited with the fact that he could do such a different, unusual kind of work from what he was normally doing, which is very strong Bollywood dance. Suddenly, we were to put a little bit of jazz and contemporary. It was quite a thought process to see him and Aishwarya interpret the song. I was very, very happy that they both did a good job. I was very proud of them because when they both came in together and it was electrifying!”
Director Acharya, too, shared his experience working on Dhoom 2. “Hrithik Roshan’s character was again in the tradition of what we think is the ‘Dhoom’ antihero. For me, the idea was someone who exists within society and yet on the fringes. Yes, he is a criminal but he is somebody who is also looking for things that are only special. He is someone exceptionally good at his craft. Those things went into the making of the character and that helps the actor embody something. It helps the director visualise something,” he said.
Opening up on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan‘s character in Dhoom 2, the director added, “Aishwarya had never done something like this before. She had played much more traditional characters, more complex, dramatic characters. Light-heartedness is always something exciting in an actor. So, this geometry of Hrithik and Aishwarya was an important sort of a milestone in the film and I think in the world of mainstream entertainment in India. It was a good and solid paring, which has stood the test of time.”
