On India’s Best Dancer – Season 4, Karisma Kapoor compliments contestant Nikhil Patnayak

Sony Entertainment Television’s homegrown dance reality show, India’s Best Dancer - Season 4, will add a filmy tadka to your weekend as the episodes are set to take viewers on a nostalgic journey through the iconic ‘Eras of Bollywood’. The contestants will pay tribute to Hindi cinema with performances inspired by the evolving styles of Bollywood across different decades. Acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Basu will join the show as a guest alongside the ‘E.N.T’ specialists - Karisma Kapoor, Geeta Kapur and Terence Lewis. From the classic black-and-white era to the vibrant 90s and the energetic millennium, each act will be a celebration of the distinct styles, music, and choreography reflecting the evolution of Bollywood.
 
Nikhil Patnayak from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh along with his choreographer, Ashutosh Pawar, will take the audience back to the golden era of the 1970s. Nikhil will be paying homage to the cinematic legacy of the great Raj Kapoor and will recreate the magic of the timeless classic “Jeena Yaha Marna Yaha” from the film “Mera Naam Joker,” leaving judge Karisma Kapoor, the granddaughter of the legendary Raj Kapoor, visibly moved by their performance. Overwhelmed with emotion, Karisma Kapoor says, “Your act was very beautiful! Honestly, I think my grandfather would have been very, very happy if he had seen this act. He would have given both of you many blessings. I also think the lyrics of this song actually represents what my family stands for; we don’t want money, we want applause. Our art should be loved by the people, and I think that is the most important thing. This value system that we were taught—that money is secondary, but the right values, life, family—these are all very, very important and I think that’s why our family has generations of artists. It’s all thanks to my Dadaji, Raj Kapoor.” Adding to the compliments, filmmaker Anurag Basu said, “I’m speechless. You know, when there’s an episode like this, where you’re paying respect to the legends of every era through your act, you can’t make your dance or your art bigger than those you’re paying respect to. And that’s exactly what you did in this act—you truly paid homage to Raj Kapoor Sahab, to this song, to this film, to this era, and that’s so important. It’s because of people like him that we are here today, that this show exists. If they weren’t there, where would we be? Outstanding!” Furthermore, sharing some trivia about the film, Anurag Basu added, “The line ‘Jagg ko hasaane behrupiya roop badal phir aayega’ wasn’t originally written for this film. Before this, Raj Kapoor Sahab was making a film called ‘Behrupiya’, in which he was playing the character of a joker, but for some reason, that film couldn’t be completed. After that, the character of the joker stayed with him, and then he made ‘Mera Naam Joker’”. Agreeing with Anurag, Karisma added how Raj Kapoor made this film with a lot of love and sacrificed a lot in the process. But it is this madness of cinema and passion coupled with focus and love which made Mera Naam Joker become a cult film.
 
Uttarakhand’s Nepo, along with his choreographer Vartika Jha, will bring the vibrant and energetic millennium to life. The duo will be performing to the soulful track - “Dil Kyu Yeh Mera” from the film Kites, capturing the essence and flair of this dynamic decade in Indian cinema. Amazed by the act, special guest Anurag Basu, who was also the director of Kites, says, “Beautiful!  Should I go back and reshoot the song? (Laughs). Very well done, very beautiful, graceful, and just stunning. Vartika and Nepo, you both are working together for the first time and you’re amazing. It's difficult to match up to Vartika, but Nepo, you are a very graceful dancer, very gentle, and incredibly beautiful.” Furthermore, when Geeta Kapur asks Anurag Basu what his thought process was when he picturized this song, he says, “We were shooting this song in a very big mansion in LA, and we were given a large bedroom to use as a makeup room. Suddenly, someone came and said we had to empty the room because Michael Jackson was coming to see the property, as he was planning to rent it. We didn’t take it seriously at first, but then they said, no, no, he's not coming; someone else, a real estate agent, is coming and we continued shooting. But then, Michael Jackson actually showed up. We were shooting, and his car arrived. And you should have seen Duggu—he's such a huge fan of Michael Jackson. I saw him go crazy, asking for a photo with him. It was just surprising—Michael Jackson visited when we were shooting this song on set. Duggu and I were frozen, speechless. There are some lovely memories attached to this film.” Watching the act, Anurag Basu will also remember the late playback singer KK and said, “When this act started, the first thought that came to my mind was KK. I miss him so much. Some of my best songs, whether it's Gangster: A Love Story or Life in a... Metro, KK has given me such amazing songs, and this is one of them. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us.”