Arshad Warsi has proven his versatility on screen time and again. While he has effortlessly dabbled into various genres and roles, this fluency in his craft seems to come from his initial journey in the dance arena. Flowing freely and fitting into any mould is the biggest blessing for any performer and that has also been the case with Arshad. Now as he sits into the chair of a judge on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 11’s panel, it only hails from his passion for both dance and acting which the show consists of.
Not many know, but Arshad started his professional life as a salesman and later took up some other jobs. But having a keen interest in dance, life had other plans for the Munnabhai actor, from joining Akbar Sami’s Dance group in Mumbai to dancing and choreographing in Bharat Dabholkar, Alyque Padamsee, and Firoz Khan’s plays, it all seemed like a manifestation falling into place. He even choreographed ads for some brands. In 1991, Arshad won the Indian dance competition, followed by a fourth prize in the Modern Jazz category in the 1992 World Dance championship, London, at the age of 21.
Fueling his passion for dance further, he started his own dance studio, Awesome, and also formed a dance troupe where he met his wife, Maria Goretti. In 1993 he got an opportunity to choreograph the title track for Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. During this time he was offered a role by Jaya Bachchan for Tere Mere Sapne, marking his debut in Bollywood.
Being destiny’s favorite child, his journey seems to have completed a circle with him turning judge for Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa season 11 now.
Talking about the same Arshad says, “It just all feels surreal. When I go in flashback, it just feels like it was all meant to be. I always had a special place for dance and life gave me the chance to get associated with it. Now, I am in a seat where I will be judging celebs over their dance, it is sort of unbelivable, but a great feeling too.”
In fact, Arshad who is in Goa mostly to get his house done, literally flies down to Mumbai to only shoot for Jhalak.
On the work front, Arshad was last seen in Bachchan Pandey last year, and this year, he lent his voice to the Netflix show Choona. Other than that, the actor is soon going to announce his new projects.
Keerti Kadam
