After a not-so-happy experience, Remo D’Souza, the super-talented choreographer turned actor is back with another dance film.
Street Dancer 3D is looking like a film that would make audiences jump out of their seats and dance in the aisles.
“That’s the idea,” laughs Remo whose earlier dance-based films ABCD (Anybody Can Dance) in 2013, ABCD 2 in 2015 were instant successes.
“We live in troubled times. Everyone is worried and suffering. Why not make films that will give them a reason to smile for two hours?”. Remo is happy to be associated with the dance genre. He made a disastrous attempt with his previous directorial project Race 3 to move out of his comfort zone (dance).
Remo says he is as proud of Race 3 as his other films. “It wasn’t the disaster it was made out to be. It made money, maybe not the kind Salman Khan starrers are expected to. But I am so happy I got to work with Salman Sir. There’re so many directors who want to work with him, but haven’t done so. Collaborating with him was a dream come true.”
As far as the weak script goes Remo defends himself. “See, in my other directorial projects, the stories are all written by me. But with Race 3 I went into someone else’s story. That made a difference to my treatment of the subject. I’m happy to be back directing my own script.”
Speaking of Salman, Katrina Kaif was to play the opposite Varun Dhawan in Street Dancer 3D. So what happened?
“Bharat happened,” comes Remo’s reply. “Priyanka Chopra quit Salman’s Bharat and he needed an immediate replacement. Katrina regrettably left our film. I was so looking forward to working with her for the first time. She was gracious enough to tell us we could go ahead with another actress. That’s how Shraddha came into Street Dancer 3D.”
Remo is delighted with Varun and Shraddha coming together again in his film. “I directed them in ABCD 2 four years ago. In the interim they’ve grown so much as actors and dancers, it was like directing a different lead pair.”
Significantly Varun and Shraddha are cast as rival dancers from the two sides of the border.
Says Remo, “We didn’t plan it as such. But Street Dancer 3 has acquired an unexpected relevance. It addresses cross-border issues, the problem of migration, etc. But please, Street Dancer 3 is not a political film at all. It’s just a happy harmless fun and dance film where Shradha happens to play a Pakistani.”
Street Dancer 3D is not only a dance film it is also a film that employs a new technique to enhance the dance pieces. “Besides 3D, we’ve used the D-Box technique whereby the seats with move with the audience during the dancing on screen. Earlier this technique was used in the film War. Given a chance I’d like to make all my films in 3D.”
Street Dancer 3D releases on January 24 along with Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s Panga.
Remo sees no competition. “They’re completely different films. I am sure Panga is a good film. Kangana Ranaut is such a fabulous actress. There is no competition between Street Dancer 3D and Panga. They are completely different films. Being a holiday weekend I’m sure audiences would be happy to see both films.’