By Anil Merani| Sagar Parekh, who has entered Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa( Sony TV) as a wildcard contestant, feels joining the race midway is challenging” because we are competing with others who have been rehearsing for 12 to 13 hours a day for nine weeks. Hence, they tend to become more natural than us. Also, because we are late entries, we must raise the bar lest the judge’s crib repetitive acts. “
Do you have it in you to go the whole hog? “It is challenging as all the wild cards are dancers( Manisha Rani, Dhanashree Verma, Awez Darbar, Nikita Gandhi, etc.), so I am not competing with anyone. For me, each day is a learning curve. One misstep and I can injure myself,” says Sagar, who has done several tube shows like Rajaa Beta, Balika Vadhu 2, etc.
Sagar, who has no professional dance training, hopes to become a good dancer at the end of the competition.
When asked about the judge’s comments, he looks forward to hearing from Farah Khan: “ For even the slightest mistake does not escape Mam’s attention. She is a past master of the trade.”
Sagar is getting a lot of pain “because my body is unused to so much strain; it is akin to hours of working out in the gym.”
Who do you feel is your biggest challenge? “Adrija Sinha is a trained dancer, but the show’s theme is learning to dance. You are judged not only on your moves but also on your expressions. And the best part is the favorite gets fewer marks on a given day, and non-dancers score big.”
Talking about Anupamaa where he replaced Paras Kalnwat to play Samar Shah, Sagar says, “It was the best journey for me. Several other actors wanted to be in my shoes. I was supposed to be a part of the Oringal Jhalak line-up, but my contract with Star Plus nixed it. I was also supposed to do Bigg Boss, but my dates clashed. But finally, destiny called me to Jhalak. I do not regret my Anupamaa ending; I got the best possible farewell. Had I even stayed on for a year, I would not have gained the traction due to the above track.”
“I am open to good fiction as well as non-fiction projects. Also, movies” ended he.