Malaika Arora: Judge from my heart, not calculative about it

Malaika Arora

When the music plays, few can move as gracefully as Malaika Arora does. Her firm command over the art form has seen her judge several dance reality shows. As she shares the judges' panel with Geeta Kapur and Terence Lewis for India's Best Dancer, Arora says she is not one to believe in tough love.

"I am not a strict judge but more of an emotional one. Nach Baliye was the first dance-based reality show [India] had and since then, there have been many. [In the course of the multiple shows], I have judged contestants spanning from four to five year olds to 60-somethings. Of course, every show has a different format and an approach. So, there are different parameters to judge. But I judge from my heart and am not calculative," smiles Arora.

As an artiste who has been a regular fixture in films as well as television, she admits that the dancing styles displayed on shows put movies to shame. "Movies have to catch up. Some of the dances that I see on television - the quality, standard, technique and knowledge - are unbelievable. You don't see that level of finesse in films because some may not be able do what the contestants do on stage. Having said that, we do have some amazing dancers in the industry. It is only a matter of time [before the two mediums are on par]."

Mention Arora, and the first image that springs to one's mind is her dancing atop a train to the beats of Chaiya chaiya [Dil Se, 1998]. Difficult as the dance number may have been, she states that she has tried to push the envelope with her acts. "I have tried aerial [stunts] in some songs. It can be scary and I would do several rehearsals before performing."

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