Boogie or boo... gie?

THE KID throws a tantrum, the shining lips - they were bright red - stretching into a pout, "I want an ice-cream." But, the already harried mama isn't convinced. "You'll smear lipstick all over the face," she dismisses the case flatly, the gruelling hour-long make-up session for her kid just over.

The eyes fluttering, palms with fresh silvery designs - they are yet to dry up completely - deliberately kept outstretched, the girl in the shining black outfit standing backstage is upset. But, not for too long.

The sound system blares the Hrithik Roshan number, `Ek pal ka jeena...' for a performance on the stage and the girl lapses into a trance along with her friends backstage, their legs and hands moving in tandem like the heart-throb of the nation, Hrithik himself. Theirs is an all-girl dance group, all the little ones just about five years old!

And they aren't alone. Several other kids and tiny-tots, all in brightest filmi costumes, break into a jig, imitating the dance movements of Hrithik. All this, backstage! Kids in the audience, too, turn to dance in gay abandon. "But, we will do that `Piya' number," the little girls chirp in a heavy accent, threatening to outdo Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee from that hit number in the Salman Khan starrer, `Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega'. Phew, some attitude this!

That was the annual `Boogie Woogie' contest in full steam at the Country Club with a full contingent of parents and friends forming a shouting brigade. With summer holidays for kids, the turnout was huge. So was the number of the contestants. The boys and gals came in an endless stream and let their hair down for just about all possible dance numbers in Hindi, Telugu and English - old and new. And what perfection they drummed up in those zany movements sans any stage fear that one wondered if the days of pesky teens closing their rooms shut and dancing away to glory in front of the mirror were over. So long gone.

"This is unprecedented. There were 250 registrations for the solo performances and 35 for group dances," sighed the club's general manager, Shrikant Sharma. Obviously, the judges had a tough time separating the chaff! While 36 could make it to the solo finals, there were 12 finalists in the group dance category. Eventually, Tara and group emerged winners. Other winners were Nikhileshwar (below eight years), Shruti (8-15 years) and Mudasir Khan (above 15 years).

In the humdrum, a young girl - apparently undergoing training in classical dance - danced to a quintessential Telugu number from K. Vishwanath's `Sapthapadi', `Nemaliki nerpina nadakalivi...' Indeed, summer is the time for peacocks to sway, but there were no takers for this as the boorish crowd booed the young girl.

The next minute, it broke into a thunderous roar. The reason? It was a popular Hindi number this time bordering onto the bawdy and the crowd broke into raptures watching a young girl do those regulation pelvic thrusts and bust heaves. Hail boogie woogie?!

By K.V.S. Madhav

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : In top gear
Next     : 2 units of Sharavathy Project commissioned