Aishwarya dances like a dream: ‘Slumdog’ choreographer

MUMBAI - Indian choreographer Longinus Fernandes made actors in “Slumdog Millionaire” dance to his tunes and also directed a sequence in Hollywood film “Eat, Pray Love”, but it is Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai who bowled him over with her “dream” like dance moves.

He has choreographed the song “Udi udi” in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s forthcoming film “Guzaarish”.

“It’s very unusual. We have never seen Aishwarya doing these steps. It’s very different from what she has done in the past and she has done a brilliant job with it. She is a wonderful dancer and dances like a dream,” Longinus told IANS in an interview.

“It did not take her long to learn the dance but it did take her some time to perfect it and to get into the mood of the character,” he added.

The song is slowly becoming a rage especially because of Aishwarys’s impressive and graceful moves in a black and red long dress.

“Sanjay wanted to make the song different and unique. I asked him if we can add a little bit of Spanish to it and give it a raw, earthy feel. He liked the idea, so we gave the whole dance a look which is very rustic to make it look as natural as possible,” said the dance director.

Longinus, who won a Filmfare Award for best choreography for the song “Pappu can’t dance sala…” in “Jaane tu Ya Jaane Na”, had assisted Farah Khan for a couple of years.

It was on the set of dance reality show “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa”, where Longinus was a contestant and Bhansali a judge, that the two met.

“It was not very difficult for me to get this break because Sanjay Leela Bhansali has always been very fond of me. He was a judge with ‘Jhalak…’ and he told me that time that he will work with me for sure. And he kept his promise.

“I did a small piece in ‘Saawariya’ too, but that went unnoticed. But with this one Sanjay and I are so happy that people are actually liking the sequence,” he said.

Also starring Hrithik Roshan as paraplegic patient, “Guzaarish” is slated to hit screens Nov 19.