Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre has made a solid comeback with the dance reality show Dance India Dance Li’l Masters 5. Sonali had to leave her show mid-way in 2018 after she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. The actress is back on the sets now and is judging DID Li’l Masters 5 with Remo D’souza and Mouni Roy.
During a recent interview with ETimes TV, Sonali opened up about her four year long break and shared, “The break from work has been long, it went for four long years. I left the sets from one of the Zee TV’s shows for my treatment and now I am back on the channel doing another show. My comeback has been a bit emotional. I am just grateful that I’m back working. I know how these sets are shooting for 14-15 hours, being able to do the work, being back on the chair, back from where you had left, it’s just an emotional experience. I am grateful, emotional, happy, mixed feelings. All in a good way. I feel I’ve just started my career and there is so much to learn, to do, so many challenges to face, so much stimulation and so much to grow in life.”
Talking about Dance India Dance Sonali said, “There are so many reality shows, but Dance India Dance is a homegrown show and it is iconic. Till today you see most of the contestants who have come from Dance India Dance, not just the winners even the runner-ups and finalists, you see them working and in a successful position. After coming out of the show, they have got an opportunity to make their lives better.”
She added, “My mind is blown seeing the talent. I am seeing these kids after 4 years and I feel like I’ve come into this different world. Children are so committed, they know everything, they know different styles, so much more which was not the case earlier. It’s crazy that they have so much information and they make use of so much information. It is amazing and what I’ve seen so far is genuinely blowing my mind.”
When asked if given a chance which dance form she would want to learn, Sonali said, “Whatever I am today is because of Bollywood. I would always look at Bollywood because when you are doing Bollywood you are doing so many different styles. It’s not stuck to just one form and I enjoy that. Even on the show when someone performs in Bollywood I’m most excited.”
Talking about reality shows using sad stories for their TRPs, the actress said, “Honestly, the shows I’ve done if I speak according to them.. the disparity in our country is so much that you don’t need to create sobbing stories. It is very sad where some of these kids come from. These kids get a chance through these reality shows to come out of the zone they are in. There’s so much disparity in our country, poverty in our country that for parents it is like Mera baccha Iss haalat se niklega and uski life Banegi. Ye jo situation hai, hum jahan baithe hain it is very easy to comment. But the fact is there is disparity in our country, Aur Woh jahan se aa rahe hain unko unke talent ke Badle ye jo mil raha hai Woh zaruri hai and they deserve everything that they are getting… There’s a hope for them. So you don’t need to create it, it is the reality of their life.”
