The DU boy behind the tamasha
A quick chat with Gurdeep Singh on how he danced his way from a college bhangra team into a Bollywood flick
While many praise me for my hard work, I will always credit this to my dance society. It has given me my passion and all the praise Gurdeep Singh Babbar, bhangra dancer
When Gurdeep Singh Babbar joined college, little did he imagine that merely being a part of the college’s bhangra team would one day give him an opportunity to choreograph for a Bollywood movie.
A graduate from Delhi University’s SGTB Khalsa college, Gurdeep was a student of political science hons., and had also been the president of the college’s Bhangra team when he was approached by Abhishek Roy, assistant director of Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone-starrer Tamasha, to choreograph the song Heer Toh Badi Sad Hai.
“While many praise me for my hard work, I will always credit this to my dance society. It not only got me closer to my passion, but got me so many accolades and I feel that I grew most through it. My coach, Tonk sir was another pillar of support and encouragement, and now, it has only pushed me to do better,” says Babbar.
The dancer feels that Imtiaz Ali was not only a director to him but more of a teacher as he got to learn a lot during the project. What he does rue about the project is not getting to meet Mika Singh, the voice behind the song, and a household name for Punjabi music.
“There is so much that I have learnt from this stint! Heer Toh Badi Sad Hai was a challenge to choreograph as it is a peppy number that conveys the message of the female lead being sad. Imtiaz sir is a great person who pushes every performer to give their best, and I am really grateful to have been a part of this,” says Babbar, adding, “What made it better was that everybody loved the song and its choreography.”
When asked if he has any other projects in the pipeline and what his plans for the future are, he says, “I would love to continue working as a choreographer in Bollywood, and there are some projects at a very initial stage, but nothing has been finalised yet! I also want to open up a bhangra academy of my own and establish a good bhangra team which can hopefully compete in the future!”