Shveta Salve's Lucky Charm

By: Dhanyasree.M
Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Shweta was nice in all the three performances and she is a natural dancer. She has made it to the finale of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa with her graceful moves. But Shweta also has something else to thank for getting there. She thinks dearly of her friend Aparna Tilak (Dr. Shalini of Left Right Left) who has relentlessly sent her good luck charms weekly. Aparna first gave Shveta a tortoise soft toy to remind her friend that 'slow and steady wins the race'. Her friend had got the message and moved in accordance with her charms. Ever since, despite busy schedules soft toys from Aparna have been flowing in for Shveta, every week. For the finals Aparna Tilak plans to croquet a green and white pouch in which she will present Shveta her lucky charm.

Sony Entertainment Television's Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa went on air, from the first week of September 2006. It is being telecasted every Wednesday and Thursday at 10 pm. This show is very much inspired by Star One's Nach Balliye that has started its second sequel on September 25th, 2006.This dance show, whose format is owned by BBC, has been a huge success across 27 countries including America, Australia, Britain, Italy and New Zealand. Siddharth Basu has directed the native version of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa under the banner of Synergy Communications and Theatre Red.

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is an inimitable reality dance-show that brings together celebrities from different dominions of life such as sports, films, fashion and music. These celebrities are successful, professional, passionate and superstars in their own chosen field. It is an interesting concept where they couple with professional dancers to show off their dancing talent on a highly competitive stage. The highly skilled dancers have trained, supported and complimented the celebrities, some of whom had never danced before.

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa invites viewers to vote for their favorite contestant duo. The voting pattern follow a 50:50 ratio for judges and audience. One celebrity pair with the lowest scores will be eliminated each week. Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa had eight well-known teams for performance at the beginning- flamboyant cricketer Ajay Jadeja with Rea Krishnatraye, kitchen emperor Sanjeev Kapoor with Nicole Alveres, gorgeous Pooja Bedi with Hanif Hilal, ever loved 'Jassi,' Mona Singh with Tobby, multitalented actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar with Sonia Jaffer, silver screen's popular actress Rati Agnihotri with Feroz Khan, angry young man of mini screen Akashdeep Sehgal with Bindi Khare and dazzling television actress Shweta Salve with Longinus.Apart from Mona and Shweta, all have been voted out by the time they have reached the final round.

Among the celebrities who have performed in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Mahesh Manjrekar attains individual attention. He has been consistent throughout his performance with his beautiful and awesome dancing partner Sonia. The final competition shows the popular Jane Jassi (Mona Singh) rocking the dance floor with her partner Tobby and the hot and sensual Shweta Salve mesmerizing the viewers with her partner Longinus.The last episode has almost decided the champion. Shweta Salve remains absolute with 85 points while Mona Singh has to satisfy with 72.They had improved their performance in each round. Mona seemed a little underpractised in the first performance but improved gradually in the subsequent rounds.

Last year's Nach Balliye runner-ups Parmeet Sethi and Archana Puran Singh are anchoring Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.The panel of three judges consists of passionate and classic filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the queen of Bollywood Choreography, Farha Khan and sensuous Bollywood dancer Shilpa Shetty. The grand finale of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is on 27th October 2006 when the winners of the contest will be announced officially.