Never say die

Practice makes a man (and woman) perfect. Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor learnt this the hard way on the sets of Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani

Katrina Kaif Ranbir KapoorLast week at Film City, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif had a tough time on the sets of Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani, which also stars Katrina’s beau Salman Khan in a cameo role. Trouble started when Ranbir and Katrina found it rather difficult to perform a few complex dance steps by choreographer Ahmed for the song ‘Follow me’ in the film.Both Ranbir and Katrina asked Ahmed to change the steps. But Ahmed stood his ground. An exasperated Ranbir and Katrina tried their best to convince Ahmed but the choreographer did not relent. Thankfully for Ahmed, director Santoshi didn’t interfere in the matter, which was finally sorted out after Ahmed stood his ground.A source present on the sets said, “Ranbir, Katrina and Ahmed started arguing while filming the song. While Ranbir was not getting a large part of his dance steps right, Katrina had trouble with a few steps which were given to her. Although Ranbir and Katrina put in a lot of effort, they failed to follow Ahmed’s instructions.”“To be fair to Ranbir and Katrina, the steps were not at all easy as the song is a fast one,” our source added.Ahmed confirmed the story and said, “Ranbir as well as Katrina asked for few changes but I didn’t want to change a single move. Usually, rap songs primarily have close-up shots but this song mostly has long shots.”Ahmed isn’t the first choreographer to have differences with actors over complex dance steps. Many other choreographers too face a problem when many actors refuse to see their choreographer’s point of view.Ahmed said, “I have been lucky. I started my career when I was 20 years old and the actors treated me like a child. Now, the younger lot treats me like a friend. I ask actors to perform particular steps after evaluating how much and how well one can perform. For instance, I will not make Sunny Deol dance like Shahid Kapur or Aamir Khan dance like Jackie Shroff or Ranbir Kapoor like Shah Rukh Khan. They all have their limitations as well as their strengths.”Fortunately, after much practice over three long days, Ranbir and Katrina eventually got their steps right. Ahmed said, “Finally, Ranbir and Katrina came out with flying colours. You will see the results on-screen. Even though it took a lot of hard work, in this latest song, Ranbir has danced better than he did in the title song of Bachna Ae Haseeno.”Like they say, all’s well that ends well.