Meeting the African-American dancer, Jaan Freeman, introduced me to a whole new world of modern dance. I was already a professional choreographer when Freeman came to Mumbai in 1996 to conduct a workshop on the Horton technique of modern dance. I found that modern dance was more natural than jazz or ballet since the dancers express themselves through their bodies without overdoing facial expressions. I fell in love with the dance form and that proved to be a major turning point in my life.

The other turn in the road was my entry into Bollywood. I agreed to choreograph for Lagaan without knowing the first thing about cinema. But director Ashutosh Gowariker and the cinematographer, Anil Mehta, told me about camera angles, lighting, and so on. To understand how shots were composed, I began watching films all over again — from Guru Dutt to Wong Kar-wai and David Lynch. However, it was not until Naach in 2004 that I got confident about my shot-taking. This meant intelligently working around camera angles so that the choreography looked good in all kinds of frames.

In 2003, my assistant, Mah-rukh, and I were the first Indians to receive the ImPulsTanz Scholarship to attend the ImPulsTanz-International Dance Web Festival in Austria. This was another milestone in my life. The three weeks spent there, learning from some of the world’s finest teachers made me evolve as a dancer and as a person. I believe I am blessed as I love doing what I do and get paid for it. This is the greatest gift.

(As told to Shreya Shukla)