I will surely miss the Jhalak stage: Purab Kohli

Yesterday, the good looking Purab Kohli was eliminated from the celebrity dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 (BBC) on Colors. And trust us, when we spoke to the actor he sounded as shocked as the viewers were with this ouster. The actor who has been part of films like My Brother Nikhil, Rock On, Jal among many more, made his television debut with the coming of age show Hip Hip Hurray and followed it with VJing for Channel V. With his comeback on TV cut short, Purab spoke to us soon after his elimination. “I was really very shocked with the result, but then I can’t do much about it. I was really excited to be a part of Jhalak and was hoping for a long stay. Also with people appreciating our performance, the elimination just came out of the blue.” The lanky cute guy kept quite a low profile in the show, did that act as a hindrance towards a longer stay? “That’s not true, for I was quiet out there. And I hardly got time in the show to let people know me. It was just a couple of episodes for me; had I been a little longer in the show I am sure I could have been a lot more fun,” he replied. When we prodded him on whether his non-TV stature was the reason of his speedy eviction, Purab quipped, “I really don’t know about that. My job was to perform and present entertaining performances which I think I managed to do in the time I was in. Since I am not seen on TV much, people do take time to recognize me.” His first grandeur against gravity performance was quite an experiment and many said that it was unnecessary. When asked to comment on the same, Purab defended himself as he said, “The challenge was to bring out a never seen before act and Mohena (his choreographer) decided that we will give a performance that has never been seen on TV before. Initially I was quite skeptical and scared, but with regular practice I think we pulled it off well.” We wondered whether sparks did fly off between him and his hot choreographer. “Nothing of that sort happened as my focus was only on dance. She is a very hard working girl and it was really nice practicing with her. We tried to give out performances to the best of our capabilities and it’s seriously sad that we bid adieu to the show so soon.” With the show only in its third episode, it has already got embroiled in controversies thanks to Drashti Dhami’s replacement. “Even I have not much idea about it although I heard about it. All I can assure you is that Drashti didn’t go because I got evicted (laughs). But yes we were this big family and had lots of masti which will be missed terribly.” So will his love for dance make him take serious dance lessons to return as a wild card contestant? “See I am an actor and my prime focus is acting. I enjoy dance and hopefully will get to do some in my future films. As far as wild card is concerned, the format of the show does not allow evicted contestants to participate in wild card; so this is the final good bye to the show,” Purab averred. And finally we asked him about his take on the person who has a high chance of winning Jhalak and he clearly stated, “I think it would be between Mouni (Roy), Ashish (Sharma), Akshat (singh) and Shakti (Mohan). We hardly got much time to interact with everyone, as all are busy in rehearsals. However I gelled quite well with everyone and will surely miss the stage, and of course the dance.” Hope to see you grooving in your next film, Purab!