Wajid (Khan) bhai gave my number to Salman Khan, there was no looking back: Mudassar Khan [Exclusive]

Dance choreographer Mudassar Khan shot to fame when he sat on the judges panel of the popular dance reality show Dance India Dance. But his journey to fame had several bumps and a lot of struggle to get where he is today. He worked as a dance teacher in schools for almost 7 years during his salad days. And then came to his angel disguised as Salman Khan who changed his life forever.

Like many other artistes, Mudassar too thought of putting his skills into work during the lockdown. He made a music video called Suraj Se Pehle which talks about how mothers across the world work so hard for every one of us. He shot this video at home on the iPhone with no extra lights. In fact, 90 per cent of the song has been shot in natural light.

The song is sung by Emcee Hasnain and Payal Dev, music is composed by Monty Khattar, mix and mastering by Dhruvan Moorthy and the song are edited and written by Muddasar Khan.

In an exclusive conversation with International Business Times, India Mudassar Khan spoke at length about his latest music video, taking up dance as a profession and how Salman Khan played a pivotal part in his wonderful journey.

How did the idea of making this song called Suraj Se Pehle came to your mind? Was it tough to choreograph this song?

I never thought that the song would do so well and I will get awarded for it in the international market. I just did it as most of the people in the industry were making something during the quarantine period and I wanted to do the same. Also, I thought I have done so many hit songs then why should not try doing something. So I arranged the team, we worked on it and it got ready in a month. I was planning to just release it on YouTube but when I showed it to my friends, they advised me to send it to the film festivals before releasing it. And I am glad I did listen to them".

The song talks about the hardship of moms. Does it also reflects some of the aspects of your mother in it.

Yes! One instance, I saw my mom working so hard during the quarantine. She remains busy in some or the other work from dawn till the dusk.

How did dance happen to you. Tell us about your journey.

Dance was my passion as every dancer has in the beginning. But because of financial issues and staying in mumbai slums, it forced me to take it as a profession. I did many other jobs as sales man, door to door courier service and many more. But my interest was pulling me back to my passion wherein I decided to pursue it. And as they say rest is history.

Choosing dance as a career option has always been difficult for people who often face objection mostly from their families. How do you want people to see dancing as a profession and a source to make good money out of it.

A person can convince their family if it is for their future and growth, making family upset won't make them grow in any profession. So one needs to make them realise and make them trust. And once you decide then there should be no looking back. Now dancing is not just a single profession. The field is open. There are so many scopes such as stage dancer, film dancer, YouTube dance, dance vlogger, dance reality show choreographer, dance reality show judge, dance director, dance filmmaker, song director, many more. It's unstoppable, one should know where his or her skills are better.

There would always be someone or the other who helps you get where you are now. Would you like to share some anecdotes on who played the part of your guiding angel?

It was in 2009, several teams had participated in Mumbai based dance championship and I was part of the sharpshooter dance group. It was announced that the winner will get the opportunity to perform in front of Salman Khan. I choreographed our act and luckily we were declared the winner.

Salman Sir was so impressed by the performance that he went out looking for the choreographer. I met him, he praised my work, hugged me and told me to be in touch. Then I realized that he hadn't taken my number! And of course, I didn't have his. I thought he must have just said it and left it at that. Then it was Wajid Bhai (Wajid Khan) who gave my number to him, then he called me and there was no looking back after that".

Choreographers like Farah Khan, Remo D'Souza have turned directors and have been successful in their journey. Are you also planning to take a leap?

Every choreographer who is working or a part of this industry I think for all of the direction is the next step. Basically every Choreographer is a director and every director is a choreographer it's more or less same. For instance, if someone is directing a scene there is a choreography in that there's no music, no dance so yeah Choreographer are in itself a Director and yes for me next step is definitely direction because when you Choreograph a song you're directing it indirectly.