Two Sowetans are ready to mesmerise theatre lovers with their dance moves in a highly anticipated Bollywood production set to hit Monte Casino in the near future.
Titled Blame it on Bollywood, the musical stars acclaimed actor Anant Mahadevan and television personality Jayati Bhatia.
The production will be coming to Johannesburg for the first time.
Another first for this Bollywood extravaganza is that it will feature Lindiwe Nene from Dobsonville and Maleshwane Julia Radebe from Klipspruit.
Nene is no stranger to the dance floors as she has graced big stages in various countries.
Dancing has taken her to countries such as Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and Brazil.
For Nene it all started at the age of 13 when she fell in love with ballet.
Even though her parents were not approving of her pursuing dance as a career, she was determined to make it work and they ended up supporting her.
Even though she never thought of doing Indian dance, her friend pushed her to go audition for Blame it on Bollywood. She reluctantly agreed and went for it. After one audition she got a call back and as they say, the rest is history.
Nene promised to put on an impressive and entertaining performance.
“I would like to encourage parents to allow their children to explore other careers. As parents we should not force our children to do conventional careers but we should support them in whatever they do,” she says.
For Radebe it was a different story, she was not persuaded by anyone to go for auditions. As a contemporary dancer, she wanted to challenge herself and try out Indian dance which is a bit different from contemporary.
“Indian is more expressive on the face and the body while with contemporary you can tell the whole story with your body. Indian brings in mixed emotions,” she says.
Radebe is no stranger to dance herself as she has been part of various big productions.
She says, “I’m excited about being part of the production and it’s going to be a fun and entertaining experience.”
On what people can expect from the show, Radebe says, “People should expect drama. They should expect mixed emotions. The show will make them cry and laugh at the same time.”
Nene and Radebe were carefully hand picked for the show by choreographer Hormuzd Khambata.
“Bollywood is all about the glitz, the glamour, the colour, the music, and of course the dancing,”says Khambata.
“We needed cast members who would pop, who would give the show the razzmatazz it needs in order to pull off an authentic, quality Bollywood extravaganza. These dancers have that razzmatazz, the energy and the dance moves to make it happen.”
