Mover & Shaker

Model-turned-actress Gauhar Khan has made news with her dance moves and feisty tiffs

Gauhar Khan has been the queen of controversies at Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa. Though she won accolades and full marks on a regular basis thanks to her dancing prowess, it was her various tiffs with choreographer and fellow co-contestants that grabbed the headlines.

Ask her about it and she says quite nonchalantly, "There's always one scapegoat in the reality show. Here, I guess it was me. I was honest, level headed and spoke my mind. I never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings. In fact, my feelings were hurt. But at the end of the day, it was a part of the whole journey."

'Dance is my passion'

The fiery model who made to the finals of the dance reality show along with hot favourites Karan Singh Grover and Baichung Bhutia is not a trained dancer. But she confesses that dance is her passion. "It is in my personality. I always had the rhythm and grace. But somehow I neither got a chance nor the time to learn it."

Nevertheless, the feisty performer's stint at Jhalak has not been less than a rollercoaster ride. After having an ugly spat with her former choreographer Hanif Hilal, she had an equally bad tiff with co-contestant Hard Kaur.

She was also eliminated from the show due to lack of votes but was back with a bang as a wild card entry. Gauhar describes her stint as "a masala packed journey of someone who had the best and worst of everything." Despite all that, "I was the only one to reach the finals and survive right till the end only on the basis of talent."

'Nothing real about Jhalak'

This year Jhalak has seen quite a few major upsets. After Shilpa Shukla was eliminated from the show, after scoring straight 30s Hard Kaur had to say goodbye. Despite being a mediocre performer, Karan Singh Grover, held his ground, thanks to his popularity. This was not quite welcomed by the judges and everyone else. So while Saroj Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant and Juhi Chawla staged a walkout, other contestants alleged the show was scripted.

Gauhar says, "The show is not scripted throughout. But yes, what you see is some thing which is changed to fit someone else's interests. There are several loose ends. Jhalak is a dance reality show. Contestants should be judged solely on the basis of dance. If contestants are eliminated initially on the basis of dance offs, then that should be the format right till the end."

'Karan and Baichung are not great dancers'

The performer confesses that her co-contestants Karan and Baichung are not 'great' dancers. "But they are definitely very popular and great human beings. What gives them an edge over me is their popularity. But at the end of the day, Jhalak is not a popularity show but a dance reality show."

'An actress at heart'

Gauhar loves modern, contemporary dance form as it gives her a chance to emote. "After all I'm an actress at heart. I am as filmy as filmy as can get," she says. The 'filmy' model has received formal training in acting from an institute and is all set to make her debut in a big banner film. Though she refused to divulge any details, speculations are rife that she will be seen in Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Rocket Singh.

Let's wait and watch if this dancing queen can impress us with her acting skills.