Tollywood divas step up the dance moves

Recently Catherine Tresa caught the eye of a Bollywood director while performing at Filmfare South Awards. The filmmaker was reportedly looking for an actress to play the lead in a
dance-based film and approached Catherine, impressed with her dancing. It just goes to show how important dancing ability can be when it comes to bagging film roles. Perhaps that���s why almost every actress in T-town is training in various dance forms in a bid to add an extra dimension to their onscreen persona.
While former Miss India finalist Rakul Preet Singh is focusing on freestyle Tollywood dancing, Adah Sharma���s enlisted herself in a crash course in ballet; the likes of Asmita Sood and Poorna are honing their Kathak skills���all in preparation for roles in their upcoming films. Recently Shruti Haasan hogged the limelight matching Allu Arjun step-for-step in Race Gurram. Her hitherto unseen dance moves proved to be a revelation, landing her a special song in Mahesh���s next release.
���Dancing with Allu Arjun was a huge challenge. I had to work very hard and it earned me a lot of recognition. I love dancing and I wish I had trained more as a kid! I want to be a ballerina
who leaps and twirls,��� says Shruti Haasan.
Taking a cue is Rakul Preet who is confident of making a similar impact with her dancing in her upcoming films ��� Loukyam, Current Teega and Rough. ���I wasn���t a good dancer when I entered films. But recently, I learnt free-style dancing (Telugu style of dancing) and practised very hard on my dance moves. Although I learnt Bharatanatyam in my school, I lost touch with the art form. So it was very challenging since choreographers use to come up with different kinds of solid dance moves in every film.���
Former Miss India finalist Asmita Sood is learning Kathak to gain competitive edge. ���I want to add versatility to my skills and I believe dance would be great. For an actor in commercial cinema, I reckon dance is an important aspect. I���m learning Kathak to have a competitive edge over others. It is a rigorous form of dance and helps in building a strong base, making learning of any other dance form a cake walk���, reasons Asmita.
Adah Sharma trained in the Russian dance form, Ballet, in preparation for her forthcoming film. ���I did not get a chance to dance much in my Telugu debut but I have to perform the ballet for my next Hindi film. Moreover, dance is like a workout and since I also know gymnastics, picking ballet was easier���, explains Adah, who was also trained in Kathak, Jazz, Salsa and Belly dancing.
Tamannaah, who scorched the screen with a special song in Alludu Seenu, also believes that dance is a crucial aspect for an actress. ���I received a lot of appreciation for my belly dancing in Racha and several films and all that increased my responsibility as a performer to work harder. Sometimes you earn filmmakers admiration not just with glamour but also with your dance
moves,��� says Tamannaah.
Following in Tamannaah���s footsteps television star turned actress Sree Mukhi who bagged a lead role in an upcoming film Nadi Teeram, thanks to training in Bharatanatyam. ���I���m playing a classical dancer in the romantic drama to be directed by Prasad Mudindi. I���m a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and have performed in school and even gave a few performances. I was really waiting for a role for which my dance skill can be put to some use. I���m glad that I got the opportunity,��� she says.
Kerala damsel Poorna too echoes a similar thought.The trained classical dancer, who burst on to the silver screen by winning a reality-based dance show, says, ���I have slowed down from signing films to hone my dance skills and I���m also planning to give a few stage performances soon,��� explains Poorna.