'Stars are insecure'

Popular Bollywood choreographers Bosco and Caesar will celebrate 100 days of the successful launch of the Bosco Caesar Dance Company (BCDC) in Dubai with a two-hour dance extravaganza at The Modern High School, Dubai, tomorrow.

Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi will be present at the show, which will feature performances by over 200 BCDC students in the UAE, including children with special needs.

Bosco and Caesar along with their talented trainers Ranju Varghese, Gulnaaz Khan, Poornima Prabhu and Augustus Pereira will also perform at the invitation-only event.

Hit songs

Bosco and Caesar are the people behind hit Bollywood songs such as Mauja Hi Mauja, Do You Want a Partner and Dus Bahane. They have worked with stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Govinda, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shilpa Shetty and Christina Aguilera. And now the talented duo have brought their popular blend of Bollywood thumkas, bhangra, hip-hop and salsa to Dubai.

Dream come true

"We launched BCDC to fulfil our dream of sharing our skills and experience with others and to bring the fun of of Bollywood dancing to Dubai. Our courses are designed to cater to children, fitness enthusiasts and professional dancers and we will give talented dancers the opportunity to be part of our stage shows and assist us on film sets," they said during a recent visit to Dubai.

We spoke to them about their favourite stars and the making of their hit songs.

Bosco

What does it take to be a successful Bollywood choreographer?

Being a good dancer does not make you a good choreographer. You must know how to project your actors as good dancers by creating moves that suit their personality, attitude, body language and dancing ability.

The choreography must be in sync with the film's story, the character and the director's vision but it should also be new and attractive for viewers to want to watch it again and again. Stars are insecure and you must know how to handle them and give them steps that they are comfortable with and make them look cool.

How do you feel about being nominated for many awards but not winning any yet?

The awards are based not on the choreography but the popularity of the songs. But we are happy as long as our songs are hits and we get more work. Having our songs played repeatedly at discos and seeing the crowd's response is like an award for us.

From where do you get inspiration for your moves?

Bollywood dance is all about thumkas and jhatkas but we have introduced a more Western style that makes Bollywood dance cool and reaches out to youngsters.

We take inspiration from international stars such as Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and Michael Jackson but we never copy them. Our ideas are original and we are proud of the fact that Bollywood has its own strong identity and Westerners are now aping our moves.

Caesar

How has Bollywood choreography changed in the last decade?

When we started our career 12 years ago we created moves based on the sets and camera angles planned by the director. But today we are song directors.

We plan everything from the set design, costumes, lights and camera angles to the make-up and hair of the dancers and take complete responsibility for a song becoming a hit or flop.
How long does it take to plan and shoot a song?

It can take from a few hours to over 10 days. We shot Dus Bahane in six hours. Salam-E-Ishq took 11 days because there were many actors and locations involved.

Are stage shows more difficult than film choreography?

They require a lot of planning in terms of entries, costume changes and exits. The stars have to rehearse more because there are no retakes, but when they are tired or forget their steps, they can stop dancing and interact with their fans.

What do you think of the trend of producers using different choreographers for different songs in the same film?

They do it because they want different flavours. But we try to convince them that we can do all the songs in a film with very different styles.

Do the actresses rehearse with high heeled shoes?

Yes. But they can take them off when we shoot close ups.

What are your plans for the future?

We would love to direct a movie — a musical. And we want to take BCDC to many more cities and countries.

Bosco and caesar on the stars

Shah Rukh Khan: We worked with him in Swades. Despite shooting late in the nights he was always there for rehearsals in the morning. He is professional, hard working and inspiring and pushes you to do better.

Hrithik Roshan: We have worked with him in Mission Kashmir, Lakshya and the Acer and Ericsson commercials. He can do any step we give him. He works hard and can make experienced dancers look bad.

Abhishek Bachchan: He is full of fun and loves to play pranks on the sets. He has great attitude and body language.

Aishwarya Rai: We shot the Nakshatra commercial with her in Namibia. Because of her training in classical Indian dance she always worries about her style looking too Indian. She wants to be corrected to make sure she is doing the moves right and looking right.

Salman Khan: He has great style and is a quick learner. He is a kind and caring person. On his sets everyone looks forward to the lunch break because he always gets a huge spread of fantastic food from home. We owe a lot to him because he insisted on having us on his world tour giving our career a big boost.

Katrina Kaif: She has done a fantastic job in Race and will surprise the audience with her dancing.

Priyanka Chopra: She has a natural rhythm and cool body language.

Deepika Padukone: We are working with her in Nikhil Advani's Made in China. She looks the most promising new star.

Christina Aguilera: We did a Pepsi commercial with her shot in Jodhpur with 50 backup dancers. She is a superb dancer and easy to work with.

About the event

Event: Bosco and Caesar Dance Company celebrates 100 days of their Bollywood dance courses in Dubai
Where: Modern High School, Dubai
When: February 5, 7pm onwards

BCDC runs dance courses for all ages in several venues around Dubai and will soon start courses in Sharjah
Entry: By invitation only. E-mail to info@bcdconline.com for invitations