Jo bhi unees bees hua mere time, it didn't happen with Jeetu : Dharmesh ‘Sir’

It may not have happened for him but it did happen to his young protégé. Dharmesh ‘Sir’’s dream of winning the DID title came true on Saturday evening as his little ‘dhinchak’, Jeetumoni Kalita won the coveted title of ‘Dance ka Baap’ as he took home the trophy. While Dharmesh beamed like a proud papa, Jeetu said, “I wasn’t expecting a win. I did not even imagine I would reach the finals. But now that I have won I am very happy now.” Jeetu, known to be Farah Khan’s favourite said he wanted to dance like “Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif.” The young boy now wishes to pursue his education and fulfill his parents’ dream. TellyChakkar also caught up with Jeetu’s skipper Dharmesh to talk about his win. What is going through your mind now? I am extremely happy. I feel everyone whose hopes and dreams were shattered when I didn’t win DID Season 2 have now been fulfilled. Farah ma’am has also surprised me by giving me a chance to choreograph for her movie Tees Maar Khan. So I am very happy. You were also one of the highest voted contestants in DID Season 2 like Jeetumoni but the only difference is the votes culminated into a win for Jeetu. What do you have to say about that? I just want to say that jo bhi unees bees hua during my time, thankfully didn’t happen to Jeetu. He is a good kid who has learnt different styles now. He deserved to win. Did you feel any kind of pressure considering the kids and their parents considered you their mentor and all hopes were pinned on you? There was a lot of pressure. Parents had handed over the kids with great hope to me. I feared the repetition of the DID Season 2 verdict but I was also confident my kids were strong enough to win. By God’s grace, I had talented kids in my group and I was sure they wouldn’t disappoint me. I knew I had to train them hard, I knew I would have to put in double the hard work to make this work and it paid off. Three of my kids were in the finals and it felt great. You have been appreciated a lot for experimenting with different dance styles... I used to take classes while I was in Baroda and it was then I was called ‘Dharmesh Sir’. But when I entered Geeta (Kapoor, choreographer) Ma’s group I realized I am nothing. I learnt a lot from her, how to use the props, how to choreograph differently. Plus with all my inputs, I trained my kids. Who do you think were your strongest competitors in the show? This season was full of ups and downs and no one skipper had stolen the show. Sometimes it was me, at times it was Mayuresh-Vrushali or Jai or even Amrita for that matter. Amrita, I must say, was a little unlucky this time but if Khushboo were around, she would have been a finalist too. So I would say everyone was strong. Would you remain the skipper for the next season? I have no clue if they would retain the same skippers for the next season. But I want to say the love and response you get from the audiences and the kids, you will not get it from elsewhere. So I would love to remain a skipper for at least the next 100 seasons. (Smiles) Which has been Jeetu’s best performance till date? All his performances were amazing but I personally loved his malkhaamb performance. Kids do not generally perform that as it is usually done by experts. Also while rehearsing he had suffered many injuries. He even fell once during the rehearsals but that did not deter his confidence. He won Sandip (Soparrkar) Sir’s hat for that performance as well. Apart from that, he performed with a jhadoo. He did cha cha cha well too. Farah has offered you a chance to choreograph for her film, Tees Maar Khan… I was not aware of this surprise. Farah ma’am has given me a huge responsibility; she has given me a chance to fulfill my dream. I will put in my best to whichever song she gives me. I want to do my best, use the right technique. I hope the song does well and so does the movie. One memorable moment during the whole journey of DID Li’l Masters? The moment we used to have our lunch together. The kids used to perform day and night. Sometimes I used to doze off and the kids used to wake me up and remind me it was time for rehearsals. I am going to miss everything and my kids. Who do you think was the other deserving candidate? I am not being diplomatic but I feel everyone deserved it. They have done an amazing job and I can’t single out any one. But yes I was somewhere a little confident that someone from my team would win because two kids from my team were in the top 4. But Manoj and Atul were equally strong. Do you think one of the reasons why Jeetu won was the connect he had with the audiences? No, not really. Yes, the audiences loved him but that he also performed all styles worked to his advantage. What’s your personal favourite style? Everyone says I do popping well. But I do a mix of everything and that has been labeled as the ‘D’ style. What is next in store for you? I am going to open my classes soon. Also a strong bond has developed with Remo (D’Souza) Sir, Geeta Ma. I want to learn from them. I want to learn something more from Sandip Sir and Farah Ma’am. Any message for Jeetumoni? I know you have worked hard for this and you have been rewarded. Keep it up and am sure you would go a long way ahead and make your parents proud.