(From top) Hrishita Bhatt in a moment from Kisna, Aishwarya Rai in Taal and Shiamak Davar in the city. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

In town on Tuesday to bolster the performance and boost the morale of the young ones in his dancing workshop, Shiamak Davar spoke to Pratim D. Gupta about film choreography, his spiritual sustenance and the art named dance.

• After Dil To Pagal Hai and Taal, why have we seen so little of Shiamak the film choreographer?

I have been offered more than 500 films after those two. Everyone wanted me to do another Taal or another Dil To Pagal Hai. But I decided that educating children was more important. There was no proper school in this country which could teach children how to dance, how to move, how to stay fit.

• But you are doing Kisna?

Yes, I have done an English song named My wish comes true for the film. Having worked with me in Taal, Subhash Ghai knows that I will be able to give him something really different. And I also knew that I wouldn?t be repeating myself. So I did it.

n Ghai is known to be very interfering?

With me, he must be working differently because he has always given me a free hand. It is more of a give-and-take process. He will give me a suggestion. I will say it may not work. Than he will think of something else. It?s a collaborative effort.

• What is your general take on the kind of film choreography that is happening in Bollywood?

I love some of the work that is being done. I loved Devdas and Saathiya.

• What about Naach, which tries to take dance to another level?

From what I have seen of the film, the dances try too hard to look modern. Antara Mali?s body language looks good but you can?t repeat the same movement throughout a film. I believe one should do much more homework before actually undertaking a project.

• So is dancing a viable career option now?

The scenario is definitely much better. But I always tell my students that they should have a backup career option. One should never look for a career in dancing. Even I had my father?s business to fall back upon. It?s another thing that I would have never taken it up.

• And what would Shiamak Davar have done had he not danced away to glory?

I would have never done a 9 to 5 job. I would have definitely done something creative ? something to do with advertising or the arts.

• What do you feel about this entire series of talent hunt shows?

There are too many but they are still good. When I wanted to do something I had no one to tell me where to go and how to go about it. These talent hunts at least act as guides. I am a teacher and I feel happy to see my students go for these shows and try their talents out.

• Every choreographer in town has gone ahead and directed films. What?s stopping you?

You know what, I got an offer to direct a film but I had to turn it down. If I make a film it has to be something spiritual, not just a set of songs and dances. There has to be a message.

• How do you rate the other film choreographers?

I do not consider myself to be one, since I do not do 100 films a year. So there is no competition as such. I feel Saroj Khan is the finest Indian film choreographer. I even had her directing my music video Jaane kisne... She is simply the best creative expressionist.

• What about the Bollywood dancing stars?

I think Hrithik?s the best ? very agile, very flexible. I am also a big fan of Govinda ? he dances with his face, not just his legs. Among women, Madhuri and Aishwarya are very good. And there?s Helen ? she is the greatest. You can?t bring me another Helen.

• What about Shahid Kapur who evolved from your dancing school?

I am very happy that he is rising to the top. When he dances in his films, you can make out that he is a trained dancer and that?s good. The only thing he keeps telling me, ?Shiamak, I miss you on the sets?.

• So what lies ahead for you?

For me, my dancing school and spiritual work are everything. The rest ? stage shows, film assignments, songs ? is like the icing on the cake. I also want to spread the word about our Dancing Feet programme where physically and mentally challenged children undergo dance therapy for no fee whatsoever. You just have to bring them to us and we?ll teach them to dance?

• Finally, what is dance to you?

The coming together of the body, the mind and the spirit.