‘Baichung is not a dancer’

Sonia Jaffer-Fraser, the soccer star's choreographer, says he has poor co-ordination skills.

Twists, twirls and lifts, she has made Baichung Bhutia do all that and much more. Whenever he gets a perfect 30 on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 3, she's the first person he thanks. We are talking about Sonia Jaffer-Fraser, the choreographer, who has made the soccer star a household name for his dance moves.

You may think she might be all praises for the sportsman. But she confesses candidly, "Baichung is not a dancer at all. His co-ordination skills are zilch. But he has got amazing determination. If he applies his mind to something, he can do anything."

A disciplined sportsman

While choreographing tough acts like the circus act or the rumba, Sonia capitalised on Baichung's strengths like agility and athletic built. "Since he's young, he's strong and agile. So I could make him do difficult movements."

Sonia knew she had a winner in her hands when she discovered Baichung's biggest strengths, his discipline and determination. "He's very disciplined and is always focussed. He's confident and has excellent instincts. Somewhere deep down he always knew he could win JDJ."

Happy to have Baichung

Sonia, who has learnt dance from the age of six and trained from the Royal School of Ballet, London, was not surprised when she got the soccer star as a partner. In fact, she heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"During the six weeks of initial training, I had four different partners. But due to various reasons, they kept changing. Just three days before the actual shoot, it was declared that Baichung would be my partner." Considering the duo got just three days to rehearse, they managed to pull off a decent performance.

Surprisingly, Sonia was not star struck by the sportsman. "I always knew Baichung was the captain of the Indian soccer team as my family members are football freaks. They were really happy and excited."

Baichung can never be as good as Gauhar

Surprisingly, Sonia was greatly influenced by co-contestant Gauhar Khan while choreographing her act. "I saw a little bit of me in Gauhar. She has this amazing attitude where she's ready to do anything given to her. I would keep her in mind before performances. She was a strong contender."

Contrary to popular reports, Sonia and Baichung would often hang around with Gauhar and her choreographer Himanshu and shared a great rapport.

Favourite performances

Ask Sonia about her favourite performances and she says, "I liked the hip hop dance which we performed on Kabhie Kabhie Aditi and the one where we used the table as a prop."

She was also completely floored by the Indian soccer team captain after he did the solo Dard-e-Disco act. "It was a brilliant performance. It was commendable how Baichung stood his ground and pulled off the act wonderfully. I was cheering for him so loudly that I lost my voice."

Favourite dance form

The choreographer, who has mastered various Western dance forms, considers Rumba as her favourite. "The intricate hip movements and wide scope of emoting make it a difficult dance form," she says.

Toughest act

JDJ 3 was Sonia's second stint with the dance reality show. In the earlier season, film-maker Mahesh Manjrekar was her co-contestant. But it was in this season when she surpassed herself as a dancer. She recounts how the blindfolded salsa act was one of the toughest performances she has ever done.

"Initially, I was under the impression that only Baichung had to be blindfolded. So we rehearsed in Kolkata accordingly. But when I returned to Mumbai, just one day before the shoot, I realised that both of us had to be blindfolded." After rigorous rehearsals, Sonia perfected the blindfolded act and scored a perfect 30.

Let's hope this dancing queen enthralls and entertains us again in the next season of Jhalak too.