'I Never Even Fantasised About Britney'

Any other man would have kept the rumour mills churning but dancer-choreographer Sandip Soparrkar comes clean to Kumar Saurav. On his alleged link-up with Britney Spears and his partner Jesse Randhawa

Did you date Britney?
No, I didn't.

Rumour mills reported that you personally took care of her meals.
Yaar, ek plate chicken tikka aur chaar chapati hi to order kiya tha (I had just ordered one plate of chicken tikka and four chapatis for her). How does that make her my girl? If you have visitors from abroad and they want to taste local cuisine, wouldn't you do the same for them?

Did you gift her a sari?
Yes, I did, because Britney likes Indian clothes. But woh shaadi ka joda nahi tha (it wasn't her trousseau). Like companies send presents to their foreign clients, I presented Britney a sari. The gesture was professional courtesy. What's the big deal?

Have you ever fantasised being with Britney?
Absolutely not. I am happy with Jesse (Jesse Randhawa).

How did you become 'Britney's man'?
Though the media wouldn't like to believe it, there was nothing between us. Contrary to newspaper and television reports, Britney came to India to rehearse and not to spend 'quality time with me.'u00a0

Coming back to sari, Britney didn't wear it...
Wrong. She was clicked wearing the sari on New Year's eve.

Did you get a return gift?
No. I didn't get any return gift.

Do you still exhange greetings?
It's been six months that we haven't contacted each other.

And why is that?
Our alliance was only professional. Kaam khatam, baat khatam (Work over, relationship is over too).

How does Jesse react to your linkup with Britney?
'Just chill, baby,' that's what she tells me whenever I overreact to the rumours.

You've choreographed Hrithik Roshan for his next film Kites. Do you believe the stories about the alleged link-up between Hrithik and his Mexican co-star Barbara Mori?
I can't comment on that because I don't have anything to say. I haven't even met Barbara. But my assistant says she's hot.

You're the first single man in India to have adopted a child. Did your celeb status help you clear the process faster?
No. It took me four years to get permission for adoption. First, it's a tough task for any single person to get the said approval and if the single person is a man, it's even tougher. When I approached NGOs to help me adopt a kid, many of them turned me away. They thought a celebrity and a single man couldn't be a good father.

Have you proved them wrong?
Yes, I have.

How did you finally get the permission?
One day I went up to the judge who was supposed to grant me the permission and said, 'Madam, main thak chuka hu. Aapko permission dena hai to abhi do, nahi to rehne do.' To this, she said, 'Beta, ho jaayega. Meri beti tumahre saath dance karna chahti hai.' Then, she gave me the approval.

Did her daughter dance with you?
I don't know. There are so many students in my class that it's practically impossible for me to remember everyone.u00a0

From Bollywood, who tops your list of worst dancers?
Sunny Deol and Manoj Bajpai. They need a lifetime of dance training.

You hit bull's eye by choreographing seductive steps for Britney Spears' hit Womanizer.u00a0
You also worked for the Hollywood film The Myth that starred Jackie Chan and Mallika Sherawat. How did Hollywood treat you?
Hollywood is very professional. For one of the shoots there, I worked for 16 hours and 22 minutes. I was paid even for those 22 minutes. But at times, it becomes difficult to handle such high levels of professionalism.

Does the Indian chalta hai attitude exist there too?
No. Here, we change a step if an actor is unable to do it. But there, actors keep practicing for days to get the shot right. Every scene has to be nothing less than fantastic. For a 22-second scene in The Myth, Mallika Sherawat practiced for an entire day. Even then she couldn't get it right. Her director just said, 'Keep practicing. I don't care cancelling the shoot for another day but you have to get it right.' That's the kind of dedication you see in Hollywood.
u00a0
But I am more comfortable working in Bollywood. This is where my heart is.

How will you match the success of Womanizer?
I have a Hollywood project called Nine with Penelope Cruz lined up next. There are several Bollywood project as well like Kites, the Emraan Hashmi-Neha Dhupia starrer Raftaar, an unnamed film with Mithunda (Mithun Chakraborty) and several others.

Though the media wouldn't like to believe it, there was nothing between us. Contrary to newspaper and television reports, Britney came to India to rehearse and not to spend 'quality time with me.'u00a0 Our alliance was only professional. Kaam khatam, baat khatam (Work over, relationship is
over too).