CHENNAI: They couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the invite for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Sandip Soparrkar and Jesse Randhawa waited for a couple of weeks to reconfirm that they were indeed invited to perform at the Buckingham Palace on April 29.
“The invite came from Prince Charles to perform at the reception in the Buckingham Palace. We’re super excited,” shares a joyous Sandip. “We have been asked to perform the Bollywood Waltz. Our dance will be a blend of classic English Waltz with the essence and spice of Bollywood. It will be a four-minute routine, with song tracks from famous Bollywood films.” The duo refused to disclose the names of the songs or the films “keeping the royal sentiments in mind”.
Sharing the stage with her husband is Jesse Randhawa, who describes dancing with Sandip “fun”. “Ours is the last dance of the evening and that makes it even more special,” explains Jesse. “Since February, we’ve been practicing three hours every day. We always find new things to work on and polish our moves. After our marriage, the chemistry between us has even become better. I feel it’s our natural love and respect for each other that come out on the dance floor. We have different interests individually but as a couple, our passion is dance,” she adds.
When you’re performing for royalty, you’d want to look your best. And who better than Manish Malhotra to make you shine! “Yes, he’s designing our outfits. I’m wearing Sherwani look-alike with an open jacket. Jesse will be in a gown with lots of Indian embroidery and detailing. Both are in off-white colour. We wanted to keep it classic Indian with a western chic,” says Sandip.
A German trained Ballroom dance teacher, Sandip is the first Indian to be certified by the ‘Ballroom Dance Teachers Training School’ in Bonn Germany. In 2004, the Queen of England and the Prince of Wales had written personal letters of appreciation to Sandip for promoting the ballroom and Latin American dance culture in India.
“This was probably one of the main reasons I was chosen. I got letters of appreciation in 2004. The following year, while choreographing a dance sequence on the sets ‘Mangal Pandey’, I also met Prince Charles,” he recalls.
So, what was the conversation like?
“There wasn’t any. There were so many protocols that we just said ‘hello’ and they say ‘congratulations’ or ‘thank you’ and then they move to next person in waiting. It was enough that we could be there and shake hands with him,” beams Jesse.
The couple has had the distinction of having performed at various international events. “Some memorable live performances have been Madonna’s 50th birthday party in London, the wedding of Kate Perry and Russel Band in Rajasthan and the opening dance at the closing ceremony at the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.”
And they have a message for any couple wanting to tie the knot: “Love keeps a marriage together. So always remain in love and keep the passion burning.”
Sandip Soparrkar is not new to the international entertainment scene. His clientele includes big names like Madonna and her ex-husband Guy Ritchie who learned the Waltz and the Cha Cha Cha from him. Shakira learned a few moves of Samba and he made Beyonce Knowles dance to Tango and Paso Doble. He even coached Saxophone maestro Kenny G in Cuban Rumba and took classes for the royal family of Kuwait (Emir of Kuwait, Prime Minister and the Crown Prince) in Ballroom dances.
He even choreographed Britney Spears’ ‘Womeniser’ from her album ‘Circus’ for which he was later nominated for the prestigious ‘American Choreography Award 2009’ in the music video choreography category. Back home in Bollywood, he choreographed the dance sequences in ‘Kites’.
What’s the difference between teaching stars in Hollywood and Bollywood?
“For instance, I choreographed a 22-seconds piece with Penelope Cruz and Daniel Day Lewis for the Rob Marshall’s film, ‘Nine’. We practiced for 10 days and shot it in few minutes. This is how perfect they want their movements to be,” he explains. “Celebrities abroad are very particular about timings. I recall an instance when I had to conduct a session with Shakira at 6am. When I reached her house at 5.45am, I was astounded to see her all-set to start practice.”
About the dance trend in Bollywood, he says, “Bollywood dance is a kitchdi of different dance forms. With the exception of few directors like Vishal Bharadwaj (‘7 Khoon Maaf’) and Madhur Bhandarkar (‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai’), rarely do filmmakers want authentic dance styles. All they want is mass appeal.”
Despite being an internationally well-known name, there’s one dream that seems to elude him — choreographing for south-Indian films. “I’m half south Indian. My mom is a Telugu and I know that south Indians are amazing dancers. My only experience in the south Indian film industry has been with the Malayalam superstar Mohan Lal in ‘Akashagopuram’.
Sandip is busy with N Chandra’s Latin dance-based film ‘Cyclone’, Percept Picture film ‘Raftar’ with Imran Hashmi and Neha Dhupia, Aruna Raje’s ‘Jhoom Zindagi Zoom’ starring Zayed Khan, Jaya Bachchan and Nana Pathekar. “I’m also looking forward to the Broadway musical ‘Bruce Lee; Journey To The West’ which will open in April 2012,” he says.
