I remember being bowled over by the lavani performance of Waluscha De Sousa in the song Chingari from Salman Khan and Aayush Sharma’s Antim: The Final Truth. Before that, the actress had shown her amazing dancing skills in the Malayalam film Lucifer as well, in the song Raftaara, and there again I was mightily impressed. But even though dancing would seem second nature to Waluscha, it’s actually something that makes the actress really nervous.
Waluscha says,
“I am very hesitant about this. I still don’t see myself like that. I don’t know how people seem to see it in me. Maybe it is just the hard work that I put in and then deliver. I have a lot of fun dancing on my own and I can do that for two to three hours, but dancing on screen is different. It makes me very nervous as it’s very new for me exploring these avenues.”
But having received so much love for Chingari last year has raised her confidence in her dancing skills and she is just basking in all the appreciation.
She shares,
“I’ve been shooting in Pune and the reaction on the day after the film released was just bizarre. I’ve not experienced something like this before, with the entire shoot getting stalled with people just wanting to have a glimpse of you or wanting to take selfies. Hearing your name being called out, especially when it’s not an easy name, was bizarre.”
However, when the song was first offered to her, she took it up as a challenge, as she says her prime focus was to learn the dance form and not to let her team down. It was only later that she realized the magnitude of what she had been a part of.
The actress insists,
“The first thought in my mind was that can I even pass up as a Maharashtrian and be able to pick up this form of dance while being able to deliver what’s required of me. We had three days to rehearse, so we tried our best and rehearsed for like, eight to nine hours in a day. By the time I reached the set, I think I couldn’t even feel my joints anymore. I had bandages all over my feet. And it’s only post the song’s release that I fully became aware of what a song with the SKF production can actually do. Suddenly overnight, I’m getting more commercial stuff.”
Now, the actress is raring to go with her future projects, and by the sound of them, they all seem pretty exciting and diverse to me.
On her upcoming projects, Waluscha states,
“I think when I did Crackdown as a negative character, that took the audience by surprise and they just loved me as Garima Kalra. I think my doors to the web world, opened with that show and then there was no looking back. I’ve shot a lot of shows post that that will all release in 2022. I’m getting to play a lot of characters including this daredevil woman in this thriller called Escape Lives, who is like ready to take on the world. I am also playing the villain again in Crackdown 2 where I am on the run and it’s all about what’s she going to do next and a lot of mystery. I have another thriller with Abbas-Mustan also releasing in 2022. It’s very glossy and beautiful the way they have shot it. Besides that there two other shows that I’m currently shooting for, but I can’t speak about it. It’s just a very exciting time.”
The dancer in me has really enjoyed seeing Waluscha take on these different dance forms, and with this line up of work, the cinema buff in me is excited to explore all these different facets of Waluscha- the actress, and it’s sure going to be an exciting year for her.