Ace choreographer Pony Verma, who was rumoured to marry actor Prakashraj in June, shares her wedding plans and waxes eloquent on her fiance.
The wedding bells:
The news that is doing the rounds is we are getting married in June. Prakash and I are getting married for sure but definitely not in June. It is very early as he is busy with two films and I will be shuttling between Dubai and India as I'm choreographing for 'Will You Marry Me'. I was quite surprised to read about the wedding dates in the media. Prakash is a humble and honest person and I have not come across a better person in my life. I have seen him stand by people who ditch him or do harm to him.
Why 'Pony'?
My real name is Rashmi Verma . I was born a premature baby and had lot of wrinkles on my body. When I was shown to my mother, she said that my body resembled a pona and my aunt named me Pony. In Punjabi the cloth used to make chapattis in the kitchen is called pona and because I was a girl, my aunt said ‘I look like a pony’. Down South, people call me Boney Master.
Every time I land at the Chennai airport, it is a delightfully amusing sight to see the boys holding the boards with my name written. Down South it all started when AM Rathnam’s CD came to me with the name of the movie 'Ponniyin Selvan' written on it. As I didn’t understand Tamil that well, I was wondering and happy why my name was written on it (laughs).
From Choreographer to Judge:
'Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena' was amazing. Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth were all a part of it. It is not easy to adjust to their mood swings, it was the biggest challenge. I remember this particular episode when the Indian team returned after losing an important match against Pakistan and Irfan Pathan was in a really bad mood. He just refused to dance but I had to convince him to do a step. Even Harbhajan and Sreesanth were going through a rough patch. Sreesanth is my rakhi brother now. Sushmita Sen was one of the judges on the show and it was an amazing experience with her. I am currently doing 'Chak Dhoom Dhoom' for the first time as a judge on Colors channel with Saroj Khan and Bosco Caeser.
South Vs North
I choreograph for Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. My first project down South was with Mohanlal and I did not know that he was a Superstar in Malayalam. He admired my fearlessness and confidence while I was teaching him steps. Much later I realised that I worked with a great star. In Tamil I have choreographed for 'Velli Thirai' and 'Abhiyum Naanum'. Here, dance and music is valued a lot and sufficient time is allocated for choreography. That is not the case with Bollywood. We get very less time to work on choreography.
Priyadarshan — My Mentor and Godfather
He was the one who introduced me to this industry and my identity, name and fame is all because of him. He has guided me like a father. No matter how busy my schedule is, I will surely find time to do a Priyadarshan film.
Current projects
I'm looking forward to the release of 'Guzaarish', the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. 'Khatta Meetha', 'Familywaala', 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron' and 'Naughty@ Forty' are the other upcoming projects.
I just completed choreography for 'Tanu Weds Manu' with Kangna Ranaut and Madhavan. Many think Kangna is arrogant but in reality she is very talented and sincere about her work.
Dance to me is : Threre is a major line of difference between dance and acrobatics. Dance has to be graceful.
Southern Sensation : Prabhudeva, he is very humble and down to earth and extremely talented.
My best choreography: For 'Bhool Bhulaiya' with Vidya Balan.
Best Dancers (Male) : Hritik Roshan, Govinda
Best Dancers (Female): Mahduri Dixit, Sridevi
Inspiration : Priyadarshan, Raju Sundaram
Favourite Prakashraj films : 'Vasoolraja MBBS' and 'Gilli'
Enjoyed working with: Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan
Would love to choreograph: Aamir Khan