Choreographer-director Remo D'Souza, who is currently judging TV show "Dance +", says dance-based reality TV shows have over the years had their effect on Bollywood, resulting in the influx of new forms in the dancing style of the film industry.
D'Souza, who started his TV journey with the first season of "Dance India Dance" as a mentor in 2009, said that since then, the dancing scenario in the country has changed a lot and people have become more educated about different dance forms.
"After we started that reality show which I was a part of long back, the whole scenario of dancing has changed in India. Everyone was educated about dancing and they came to know about all the dance forms in India. Because of that, the film industry has also changed, its dancing has changed.
"Initially we had only few western styles like break dance and hip-hop, but now we have actors doing krumping, contemporary and everything in film songs. So it is a big change that I've seen after the dance reality shows," D'Souza told IANS in an interview here at the "Dance +" set.
The 43-year-old, who has been a part of several shows like "Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa" and "Nach Baliye" and has directed the Bollywood dance film franchise "ABCD", feels dance shows are now a "big thing" and people have started accepting dancing as a career.
"When we started the first season of 'Dance India Dance', the dancers who came, were not sure about dance reality shows. So this show was a change, and after the first season, people came to know that even dancing can be a career.
"Now there are people who train themselves to come to reality shows -- they train for years -- and they want to be a part of them because it is a big thing right now. Dancing can change your life and it has changed so many lives in all these years... it changed my life also," he said.
Talking about "Dance +", which is currently airing on Star Plus, D'Souza said he is surprised to see how much unexplored talent there is in the country.
"I am very excited because even after doing so many shows and making films on dance, I still got surprised in the first episode we shot. It was amazing to see it all and I was shocked to know that we still have so much talent and I've still not seen it all. It's like a different kind of talent I'm seeing this time," he said.
The show features solo, duet and group performers and provides a platform to dancing talent from all over the country.
"Sometimes we miss on these unique dancers because we look out for something else. So in this show, we're concentrating on only those unique dancers -- not only solos, but duets and groups also. When one looks for solo dancers, the duets and the groups are left behind, but in this show, we're targeting all kinds of dancers," D'Souza said.
