Remo D’ Souza will use a lot of popping, locking and b-boying in his forthcoming films; (below) Shahid Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee set the screen on fire with their hip-hop number in Dil Bole Hadippa

First day, first show. You were in the theatre waiting for the magic of Kites to bowl you over. But try as you did, you just couldn’t fall in love with it. That was before the song Fire lit up the screen.

Roshan junior literally set the stage on fire as he b-boyed his way through the pulsating number, hitting the right notes with his smooth head spins, windmills and flares (moves common to b-boying).

Cut to Shahid Kapoor, Bollywood’s twinkle-toed dancer in Chance Pe Dance. He slipped into the role of an aspiring dancer and actor with ease, especially when it came to all the heavy-duty hip-hop and b-boying in the film.

The times are changing, with Bollywood experimenting with various international dance styles. From hip-hop, locking, popping and b-boying to salsa, contemporary and ballroom, Tinsel Town is taking its dancing very seriously.

So much so that filmmakers have reached out to international choreographers to weave in authentic Western magic into dance sequences. So while Shahid Kapoor grooved to international choreographer Marty Kudelka’s steps in Chance Pe Dance, Hrithik Roshan danced every bit like the American dancer he was playing, courtesy choreographers Flexy Stu and Loren ‘L’ Livick.

Say Stu and Livick: “Never has the energy of an authentic b-boy dance circle been captured like this on film.”

Priyanka Chopra wowed the audience with her contemporary routine in What’s Your Raashee?

The jhatkas and matkas have been making way for international dance styles and how. Piggy Chops shared stage and screen space with Terence Lewis in a contemporary routine and also danced some light and fun hip-hop in What’s Your Raashee? while Deepika Padukone went the hip-hop way in Love Aaj Kal. And Rani Mukherjee did a sizzling hip-hop routine in Dil Bole Hadippa with Shahid Kapoor.

Says Terence Lewis, contemporary dancer and choreographer: “Dance forms such as hip-hop, contemporary, jazz and salsa have become popular as they’re expressive and very individualistic. So they tend to be a hit with the younger generation”. Others attribute the coming of international dance genres to Bollywood going global. According to Bosco, of dynamic duo Bosco Martis and Caesar Gonsalves, with music undergoing a sea change, dance couldn’t have been much behind.

While hip-hop has been making inroads into Hindi cinema for some time, other dance styles went unnoticed. There was Ram Gopal Varma’s Naach, a contemporary dance-based film that flopped, and Holiday (ballroom) and Aaja Nachle (Bollywood-style Broadway) that failed to live up to expectations.

Kites had Hrithik Roshan showing off his salsa skills to perfection

But all that’s poised to change as Bollywood takes its song-and-dance routine to a whole new level. Films like Kites and Chance Pe Dance, despite their box-office status, have set the trend for truly edgy choreography. And there’s more fancy footwork on the way. Sandip Soparrkar is choreographing a sensuous tango piece for Priyanka Chopra in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Saat Khoon Maaf, and Hrithik will dance to a Latino number in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, Guzaarish. Says Soparrkar: “International dance styles are enabling us to go global.” He brought a distinct salsa flavour to Kites in his choreography.

The stars too, keeping pace with the new trends, are working hard on their moves. International dance styles need a completely different body language — a shift that our actors are trying hard to achieve.

Says Livick: “As talented as Hrithik is, there were many moves that were foreign to him. He also had to pick up the aesthetics in a very short period of time.” In fact, the new generation of actors spend time in practice to get their moves right. Little wonder then that Kangana Ranaut stood her own in Fire, alongside Hrithik.

Terence Lewis has a lot of Indo-contemporary and Bollyhop up his sleeve

And what are the styles to look out for? According to Lewis, the focus will shift to contemporary, as it’s very creative. Remo D’Souza, however, sees a lot of salsa and Latin dancing on the cards for Bollywood. Take actors like Chitrangda Singh or Ajay Devgn and Shazahn Padamsee (Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji), who are going the salsa way for their upcoming movies.

D’Souza has some great moves up his sleeve this year. While he goes the b-boying way with Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House, his signature popping style has found its way into the Rajnikanth-Aishwarya starrer, Endhiran. There’s also a wacky contemporary routine for Ram Gopal Varma’s next, Rakta Charitra. And despite the box-office status of I Hate Luv Storys, Bosco and Caesar managed to dole out a hit in the form of the film’s title song. Fun, young and energetic, the hip-hop flavour is unmistakable.

Meanwhile, Lewis is creating a modern contemporary piece for Rajshri Productions’ film, Isi Life Mein. He also thinks that fusion genres such as Indo-contemporary and Bollyhop are going to be buzzing around in Bollywood soon — and the top actors of the day will continue to step out in new directions.