'I have still not gotten out of the Jhalak hangover'

'This is the biggest stage for dancing anyone can have. For now, I am surely not going to do another dance based show.'

Puja Banerjee gets eliminated from Jhalak Dhikhhla Jaa.

Puja Banerjee, who plays Parvati in Life Ok’s Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, is the latest contestant to get evicted from the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. 

The actor has been in the danger zone thrice; and luck did not favour her the fourth time. 

Puja says that being out of the dance show makes her feel low. She also misses the routine. 

“I was so used to getting up in the morning and spending time at rehearsals. Now, I have nothing to do with my time,” she says.

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She was the butt of jokes for being in the danger zone so often. 

“I took it in a sporting way. It never affected me or my performance in any way. In fact, I like such situations because I love to face new challenges,” she says.

Pitted against Kushal Punjabi in the dance face-off, Puja gave it her best shot, but Kushal pulled off a stunner in his ‘save the tiger’ act.

All the three judges, Karan Johar, Madhuri Dixit and Remo D’Souza applauded Puja’s fighting spirit.

The actor added, “Every minute was a memorable experience. This show gave me a chance to be myself as opposed to playing a character in a serial. 

“I’ve always liked dancing and here I got a chance to do some serious dancing. It was the journey of a non-dancer transforming into a dancer.”

Puja made good friends in the show. 

“I will miss Karan Tacker, Sreesanth, Mouni Roy and Ashish Sharma. We had all grown very close to each other. I was quite close to Sukhiji (Sukhwinder) too,” she says. 

She has a friend for life in choreographer Rajit Dey. 

“When I hurt myself while dancing, he carried me to the hospital. He was always with me. He knew what I felt and how I wanted to express myself during the dance,” she added. 

The competition was tough this year, she says. 

“For example, Malishka Mendonca is a complete non-dancer, but surprised everyone with her dancing abilities and energy level. Shakti Mohan, Akshat Singh, Mouni Roy and Ashish Sharma are good dancers. Luck also plays a crucial part. So you never know.”

Puja’s last performance was a medley of popular songs from Karan Johar’s films. 

One of her memorable performances was Dreamum Wakeapum, where Puja and Rajit showed off their Tollywood moves and wowed everyone with a performance that can only be described as inspirational. 

Will she participate in another reality show? 

“No. I think this is the biggest stage for dancing anyone can have. For now, I am surely not going to do another dance based show.” 

She does not plan to return to the small screen any time soon. “I have still not gotten out of the Jhalak hangover. As soon as I do, I want to focus on Bollywood. There are a few offers that I will now look at since I’m free.”