Choreographer Mudassar Khan on the message that followed six missed calls that changed his career
Mudassar Khan, an upcoming choreographer, was given a break by Salman Khan when the superstar saw him dancing at a mall. He had participated in a dance competition and the winner got the opportunity to perform in front of the actor.
AISE HI BOLA HOGA?
Says Mudassar, “It was before the release of Wanted. After I performed, Salman Khan hugged me and told me to get in touch with him. I was ecstatic, but later realised that he hadn’t taken my number! And of course, I didn’t have his. I thought he must have just said it, the way stars usually do and left it at that.”
HAAN , BOL!
A month and a half later, when Mudassar’s mother was talking on his phone, he got six missed calls from Salman. “I didn’t know it was him, but I called on the number. When he said it’s Salman Khan, I thought it was somebody from my family and casually said, ‘Haan bol’. It was with his next sentence, ‘Main kab se phone kar raha hoon, tu utha nahi raha hai,’ that I recognised it was him! I immediately apologised and he asked me to come to his house. It was after that I saw the message he had sent, ‘Pick up, this is Salman Khan’.
AFTER AN INTEZAAR
However, when Mudassar went with his team, the watchman threw him out. He tried calling the actor, but didn’t get any response. Finally, after waiting for over an hour, he decided to leave thinking somebody had played a prank on him. “That’s when I got a call from Salman and he asked to me come inside. When he opened the door, I couldn’t believe it, I was too excited. Initially, I danced to some English songs and later to Hindi dance numbers. He gave me my first break at a small award function and then the song Humka Peeni from Dabangg, Dhinka Chika and Character Dheela from Ready followed.” And, his life changed completely.
PUBLIC KI PASAND, PLEASE!
Mudassar rates Salman as a very good dancer. “He has a good sense of music as well as choreography. There have been times when he has taught me. With us choreographers our main aim is: dance faadu hona chahiye but Salman feels public ko pasand hona chahiye. When I give him what I think are cool steps, he says to put that in the antara (paragraph) and give an easy signature step for the mukhda (opening) which anybody from the age of five to 60 can do easily.”
READY TO GO!
Ask him how he came up with the Dhinka Chika step and he recounts, “We were in Thailand. It was extremely cold then. When I went to Salman to discuss the choreography, he said he didn’t want to take his hands out of the pockets because it’s cold. He told me to give him a step accordingly. I thought he was joking, but later realised he was serious. That’s when I went to my assistant and designed that step, which became so popular,” smiles Mudassar who also choreographed Salman’s latest hit Prem Leela from Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.
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