Alia Bhatt visited Shah Rukh Khan to prep for Tum Kya Mile: Vaibhavi Merchant | Bollywood

Vaibhavi Merchant has been a choreographer for over two decades now. But when she gets the opportunity to work with Karan Johar, she gets to co-create the entire film, because songs are as integral to the narrative of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani as chiffon to a Yash Chopra song or drama to a Sanjay Leela Bhansali dance number.

(Also Read: Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani: Jaya Bachchan as the angry old matriarch is a masterstroke in casting)

In an exclusive interview, Vaibhavi discusses the process of working with Karan, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, paying odes to Yash Chopra and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and recreating Dola Re Dola with two male actors. Edited excerpts:

Karan Johar has paid tributes to two filmmakers — Yash Chopra and Sanjay Leela Bhansali — whom you’ve worked with multiple times. How nostalgic was the experience of choreographing the songs in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani?

I think he’s paid homages to a lot of filmmakers, from Manmohan Desai to Raj Kapoor. Even Guru Dutt, whenever some melancholic music comes in. And of course, Yash Chopra. These are some of the stalwarts of Hindi cinema. Then of course, there’s Sanjay, for his exuberance and drama. It’s a love letter to Hindi cinema. We’re from a generation where we’ve seen the golden era of Hindi cinema, like Raj Kapoor or Guru Dutt. I’m not sure if kids of today’s generations are aware of Kaagaz Ke Phool or Shree 420. We’re that generation who’ve seen the best of both the worlds.

Karan has always been a student of cinema, like me. It’s very important to observe and learn from other filmmakers’ craft, and even from their mistakes. If you noticed, there’s no foreign location in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, which is very unlike Karan Johar (laughs). He said, “Let’s pay a tribute to Yash uncle.” Which director would want to pay a tribute to another director’s work? Every director is here to prove their own mettle. But here’s this ball of joy called Karan Johar who’s trying to extend his love for those movies to his technicians, crew members, actors, and eventually, the viewers.

When you’ve worked with Yash Chopra and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, how do you strike the balance between paying odes and retaining the originality of Karan Johar?

We were very clear that the songs also need to make Rocky look like Rocky and Rani look like Rani. Lucky for us that Rani is wearing only saris. It’d be tough if Rani was wearing LVs or Guccis and would suddenly slip into saris. It’s just an extension of the material. She just went into chiffon, which is fluttery and flowy.

Alia is already in Kashmir for work when she’s thinking of Rocky, instead of them suddenly breaking out into a song in the snow? Did you struggle with designing the Bollywood dream sequence in 2023?

Karan has also given a slight tribute to Aditya Chopra from Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko Toh Pyar Sajna (from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), where Kajol and Shah Rukh realise they’ve parted ways but fallen in love. This is suspension of disbelief. Karan didn’t have a doubt whether it’d work or not. He was driven utterly by conviction.

The only challenge was to make Ranveer do this. He’s not done this lip-sync song, except for one with Priyanka Chopra in Gunday. Otherwise he’s never done a love song where he’s looking all dreamy, and looking at the heroine with dove eyes. I wanted to do an exercise of rehearsals with him.

Alia had herself gone and visited Shah Rukh for a day to learn this, because she’d never done a song like this either, except a little bit of Ishq Wala Love in her first film. But then how to handle the pallu, handle the sari, see the hero gush at you, maintain your hair, fighting all the wind in a chiffon sari in sub-zero temperatures. We also use the fan to counter the wind and ensure the sari flows in a beautiful way. You’re even listening to the song at a faster speed, so to maintain the sanity of your expression, to emote and lip-sync in high speed… for me, that was a challenge. Because these aren’t veterans of this kind of songs. You’ve seen Shah Rukh and Kajol do it a hundred times because it was a norm in those days.

And then you also had people comparing Ranveer and Alia to Shah Rukh and Kajol…

We expected the comparison, but we didn’t get bogged down by that. Pointing fingers to that wasn’t a eureka moment for us. When the song released, people were watching it as a standalone sequence. But now that the film is out, they’re all praise. We knew that we’d done the best of what we could do under the circumstances we were in. There was an actress who was nursing her baby between the takes. We know the stories behind every shot that’s been put out there.

Comparisons have happened to all of us. When I did Aaja Nachle, people call it iconic today, but the media put my work down then. Because they were used to seeing the Saroj ji-Madhuri combination. Vaibhavi was a nobody in comparison then. I’ve had to deal with another generation when I started off. Today, I’d hate if someone does the same to a new choreographer. If people say only Vaibhavi can do Indian classical or folk after Saroj Khan, I’d dispute that. I’m not the only one. There are many more, bas mauke milne chahiye (they just need the chances). I may do it better, but there are many who’re doing it.

Did filming Tum Kya Mile in Kashmir take you back to the sets of Yash Chopra?

When I met Yash ji for the first time for Veer-Zaara, I couldn’t believe that I am meeting the man who has shot songs of legendary films like Chandni, Lamhe, Kabhi Kabhie or Silsila. We were in school or college when we watched these. It was surreal to go to Switzerland with him and do a song with Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan where he’s wearing a jacket and she’s wearing a chiffon sari and getting wet in the cold of Switzerland. It was the master at play. I’m yet to see anyone shoot the vistas of Switzerland like him. Little did I know that would be my crash course of shooting romantic songs.

When we landed in Kashmir (for Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani), Karan started singing Ye Kashmir (from Bemisaal). He’s so hilarious. It’s very important to work with a director like him who keeps the atmosphere so light on set. Because I’m very strict when I’m working. This (keeping things light) used to be a style of working on the sets of Yash ji. We were all working hard, but we felt loved. You felt a part of this Sooraj Barjatya emotion. We were all a part of one big vision.

And similarly, did the filming of Dhindhora Baaje Re take you back to the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali?

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is a film very close to my heart, from Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan to Dhol Baaje (for which she won a National Award) to even doing a song with Helen aunty and Salman Khan, which of course was edited out. Sanjay and I were collaborators in that sense. I’ve loved his work in Khamoshi: The Musical and even in the songs he co-directed with Farah Khan in 1942: A Love Story. I loved the way he’s presented the songs. He’s one of the rare directors who knows how to shoot songs. You feel inspired to be with him on set.

Dola Re Dola was one of the few songs you didn’t choreograph in Devdas. How was the experience of recreating it in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, but with two men?

Dola Re Dola was a tough one for me. Of course, I was a part of Devdas, but I did three other songs – Silsila Ye Chahat Ka, Humesha Tumko Chaha and Bairi Piya. When I saw Saroj Khan’s Dola Re Dola on the big 70 mm screen in Metro during the premiere, I was blown away. Now to step into those shoes is already like walking towards your grave. Because people are very quick to judge you these days. I was half expecting for people to only rip me apart for doing this to Dola Re Dola.

I didn’t set out to compete or make it any better because the script demanded that they’re doing Kathak, but on Dola Re Dola. I sent an ex-assistant of mine, Nikita, who is a Kathak dancer, to train Tota Roy Chowdhury and Ranveer. I’d sent her earlier to Dharma to train Janhvi Kapoor for Takht and Alia for Ghar More Pardesiya (Kalank).

The other challenge was how to keep up with the original. It had dancing stalwarts like Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai. And here, I have an actor-dancer who’s never done Kathak and one wonderful actor from the Bengali film industry who has never danced to save his life. But I did not get bogged down by it. Because I wanted to pay an ode to Saroj ji. I’ve learnt so much from her, right from watching her Ek Do Teen (Tezaab, 1988).

You choreographed Tarkeebein, the intro song of Ranveer in his debut film, Band Baaja Baaraat, and also worked with him in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl and Befikre. When he was a wreck before doing Dola Re Dola, how did you comfort him?

Oh, he had a meltdown (laughs). He would only call Karan saying he can’t do this. Because he knows I am a taskmaster. Knowing him, he must’ve watched Birju Maharaj’s videos. But I told Karan that I won’t be able to ease this because then I’d be doing a disservice to those who’ve dedicated their entire lives to this dance form. I’m a Kathak exponent myself. In fact, I’m a khandani, I hail from the Jaipur gharana. My late grandfather Late Sunder Prasad ji is the founder of the Jaipur gharana.

I told Karan that Ranveer would have to stay true to the craft, but I’d make sure he doesn’t look stupid, I’d protect him. It’s not that ragging scene from Munna Bhai MBBS that it has to look funny. People had to look at it and say WOW. It had to do the opposite of laughter. If Ranveer would’ve looked caricaturish, we’d have failed. So I handheld him and we took it one hour at a time. I choreograph keeping the actor in mind. It had to suit the actor’s body language. You can’t come up with the choreography for Hrithik Roshan for any other actor. Film choreographing isn’t like making an Instagram Reel.

You also choreographed the end-credit song Kudmayi. It plays out like a stunning wedding video. How did you envision that?

I wanted it to be very real. I didn’t want it to be gimmicky. I didn’t want it to be a fun song like Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna (DDLJ). The mood by then in the film is very sombre. They’ve entertained you so much by then, that you really want them to ease it out. They’ve got through so much in the story, so I wanted it to be very emotional. I didn’t want a lot of information. We used the baby lens and diffused light. I wanted a lot of blobs like it’s a fairy tale storybook.

I just wanted the bride to be alone in the courtyard, with her sahelis (female friends). I wanted Tijori (Aamir Bashir) to hand his son to the bride, let him complete his arc. So Kudmayi is a lot of these beautiful moments condensed into a beautiful-looking imagery.

I’m so upset that Kudmayi isn’t on the full screen. We shot the entire song in two-and-a-half nights. You usually shoot a minute in so much time. We shot four minutes. There was a storm which lost us time. We had the baaraat dancing in a storm in Jaisalmer. And then to see all of this go into a box is terrible (laughs). But I’m glad that the full version will come out on YouTube and on OTT. It’s going to be the wedding song and the bridal entry song of the season.