It is week 12 already! Jhalak Dikhhlaa Ja had the contestants working twice as hard for their performances, literally! The challenge this week was such that all the contestants had to perform on both days of the week, with the first day being DJ mixes by the infamous DJ Suketu, who chose the songs and mixed them for each pair. So how far did the contestants succeed in making their fans happy and fulfil the judges’ expectations? Read on to find out!
The danger zone went a step ahead with 4 jodis i-e Mukti and Shashank, Siddharth Mohena, Shaan and Marischia and Sana and Tushar with the lowest votes. Mukti and Siddharth were the final ones for Jaan Ke Liye Dance, and Siddharth Shukla was eliminated.
Drashti and Salman kick started Saturday with a freestyle performance to a track packed with beats. While their choreography and co-ordination was great, the duo lacked in energy that was needed to make the fast and peppy performance perfect. Their score was 22. The following day, as a romantic song, the duo performed a Ballroom and Contemporary act, which was beautifully choreographed and conceptualized, but somehow I feel it lacked in originality. They scored 24, and their score of the week was 46 on 60.
It seems that Shaan and Marisichia were determined to get back and be the happy surprise package of the show once again, even though Marischia was replaced by Sneha for this weekend because of her injury. Shaan’s performance on Saturday was one fantabulous Freestyle act! The co-ordination and choreography was great and Shaan’s confidence was evidently back. The duo scored 24. As a tribute to his beautiful wife Radhika, Shaan’s next performance was an Aerial Silk and Contemporary act which was a romantic and well performed dance. Expressions, choreography and everything love; they scored 27 and made their overall score 51 on 60.
Sana Saeed had the chance to use all her energy with this week’s DJ mix challenge, and she performed a Hip Hop act with her partner Tushar. This act was full of dance and brilliant choreography with Sana’s dedication added to it. The duo scored 26. Sana took her level of determination to go ahead in the competition by giving an Acrobacia and Afro act in the Avatar style. This performance was like watching drama on a stage as the couple had taken care of every little detail besides brilliant choreography and co-ordinated dance, which means their costumes and the concept. They scored 30, and their weekend score was 56 as a whole.
Sonali and Sumanth had no problem taking on the challenge, as they performed a Hip Hop and Freestyle act on DJ Suketu’s remix. The kids flawlessly moved around the stage performing and entertaining but today, they needed more dance and less lifts. They scored 25. The next day, they had another well-constructed act of Contemporary and Kathak. Without a doubt, their performance was well co-ordinated, graceful and their confidence level was at another height altogether. They scored 30 on 30, and their total score was 55!
So what did the much loved American Desi jodi of Jhalak do? Lauren and Punit totally stole the show with the most creatively set Garba and Robotics act for the Remix challenge. Two robots, being robotic and ‘Garba-tic’! While Punit left everyone speechless with his choreography, Lauren got brownie points for being absolutely perfect in timing, on beats and Karan Johar added that no one can believe that Lauren is not an Indian. They scored 30. It takes Adam and Eve to Tango, which Punit and Lauren were perfect for as they gave another lovely performance. Choreography, co-ordination, you name it and they have it. They scored yet another 30, and there was a full 60!
Mukti and Shashank made their way out of the danger zone and performed a Hip Hop act. In my opinion, Mukti as a dancer can do a lot more and a lot better be it some different dance form or difficult concepts because technicalities like foot work and postures which take a lot of time to master are really in her blood. The duo scored 24. The next day, they performed a Freestyle act, which was unfortunately again not Mukti’s level of performances. The choreography lacked in novelty, and would have preferably made the act stronger if it was contemporary or even something like Flamenco. They scored 24 again, and their total score was 48.
Jhalak Dikhhlaa Ja is going higher and higher in dance, challenges and competition. With ‘Teen ka Tadka’ as the next week’s challenge, it will be interesting to see if a third person with each jodi would be God’s angel in disguise or will they feel like too many cooks are spoiling the broth! Keep reading, keep watching!