Saurabh Prajapati, one of the youngest choreographers in the industry, has been gaining attention for the out of the box choreography in the recently released teaser of the music video Shonk Se. Sung by Afsana Khan, this song has our heart and it was exactly these emotions that Saurabh wanted to express through the choreography.
“When they offered me the song, Shonk Se and when I heard it for the first time, I fell in love with it. The composition, the lyrics were so powerful. Afsana Khan’s voice! The way she has sung it… That's when I was like I want to do something different in this song as well, and that's when I decided to use different vocabulary, different techniques of contemporary dance in the song. The emotion that she is expressing, was what I wanted to express through my dance moves. When words can't express your feelings, it's art that helps you,” he says.
The choreographer adds that he has always wanted to do something different in each of his projects, and Shonk Se offered him an opportunity for trying something unique. “Contemporary dance is my personal favourite dance form and I have always wanted to introduce this dance form in Bollywood numbers. This was a challenge that I took a few years back and I finally introduced these international dance forms and techniques in a few of my projects. In Shonk Se, if you see, you will find very different visuals. I have used smog and also a big cloth in my choreography to give it different look. This is not what is usually done in Bollywood numbers. For me, the idea is always to do something which is new to the audience. There have to be some new creative ideas that we add so that it should look fresh,” says Saurabh, who has choreographed and directed the numbers Tenu Meri Umar Lag Jaave featuring Terence Lewis and Fidaai featuring Elli AvRam and Salman Yusuf Khan.
Talking about working with actors Mohsin Khan and Sonarika Bhadoria in Shonk Se, Saurabh says, “It was a pleasure working with them, both of them are very friendly and chilled out. We share a great bond. Most importantly, I want to mention that Sonarika has never taken professional training when it comes to such dance styles as contemporary dance. Apparently, she only got one day, in fact, only a few hours to learn this choreography. But I respect her for putting in her 100% effort. I was so impressed because of the kind of passion she showed. I was like, ‘Let's do it!’. I cannot thank Manish Shunty enough for his amazing work! I want to thank each and everyone from the technical department to all the dancers… everyone plays an equally important role to make it look great.”
Meanwhile, the choreographer has a lot more planned for the future. “I am so happy that everyone is loving this music video. The choreography, the visuals…there is so much more interesting stuff coming on the way. I can't wait to share it with everyone. I have given so many years to train myself in these international dance forms and finally, I am putting it out there in front of you guys.”
