Veteran choreographer Chinni Prakash recently spoke to ETimes about his journey in the film industry, his roots in a family of choreographers, and his career-defining experience working with Amitabh Bachchan on the iconic song Jumma Chumma from Hum (1991).
Chinni Prakash was born into a family deeply rooted in cinema and choreography. His uncles, Hiralal Masterji and Sohanlal Masterji, were renowned choreographers who worked with legends like O.P. Ralhan and Raj Kapoor. His father was also a choreographer, based in Chennai. While the family hailed from Rajasthan, they were raised in Chennai, where southern languages were spoken at home.
“Speaking Hindi was not part of our upbringing because we were in Chennai. Southern languages were spoken instead. I got married to a Telugu-speaking woman,” he shared with us.
Prakash then recalled how filmmaker Mukul Anand, impressed with his work in Maha Sangram, offered him Hum. “Forget about choreographing Amitabh Bachchan, it was my dream come true moment to even see Mr. Bachchan,” he said, adding, “When Mukul asked me whether I would like to work on Hum, I was flattered. I don’t know, probably it was a work of God or the stars that everything culminated for me.”
His excitement only grew when he was invited to Mehboob Studio to witness the live recording of Jumma Chumma, composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. “Those days, live orchestration used to happen. It was for first time I went to Mehboob Studio – the recording hall, the theatre, and the huge speakers,” he said.
Recounting his first meeting with Bachchan, he said, “Before I could enter the theatre, I saw a person sitting on a sofa, relaxed. He had long hair and was listening to the song. When I was introduced to Mr. Bachchan, I was awestruck to see him. The way he spoke and welcomed me. He stood in front of me like a giant. And I was a tiny guy. Seeing him was like seeing a God in front of me. I had goosebumps all over me. I just didn’t know how to react to this situation. Forget about choreographing and things like that. Looking at him was the biggest blockbuster of my life.”
He further added, “Then Mr. Bachchan took me and my wife to his van. He said, ‘Come to my van, I’ll make you hear the song.’ I think he was the first person to have a vanity van. Manmohan Desai was the owner of that van. He made us hear the song in his van. Just imagine a small boy from Chennai who heard a song played by Amit Ji. He used to shake his leg to the beats of the song. Such a long leg. I forgot to listen to the song. I was just admiring him. He said, ‘Aap gaana suniyega.’ I could understand Hindi but I was not fluent in Hindi.”
The pressure to choreograph for Amitabh Bachchan was immense. Prakash had initially composed the steps on his assistant, Ravi, but just a day before presenting it to Bachchan, Ravi backed out. This forced Prakash to rehearse the routine himself overnight. “There was small hall in Juhu called Mangala Hall. I remember I composed the song on an assistant of mine called Ravi. I took about 3 days to compose. I first showed it to Mukul. He said, “It is so fantastic. It is superb.” He wanted to show it to Amit Ji. I was paranoid. Mukul said, “Tu kyun itna darr raha hai?”” he recalled, admitting, “I was sweating in the AC room.”
When the time came to perform for Bachchan, he was nervous. “My head was spinning. I was shivering. All the dancers were shivering. In those days, there used to be cassettes. Somebody played the song, and I started dancing. He got up from the chair, hugged me, and said, ‘Fantastic!’ Then he told Mukul, ‘I need a month’s rehearsal for this. After that, I will shoot.’”
Prakash credited Mukul Anand for his visionary filmmaking, stating, “Mukul was another league altogether. You can’t compare him to anybody. He was a master of cameras.” He recalled the grand production design, which included 2000 dancers and live shouts of Chumma recorded on tape.
From the shot compositions to lighting patterns and even the use of white mugs in the scene, Anand meticulously crafted every frame. Working alongside cinematographer W.B. Rao, the two employed innovative techniques, setting up dual cameras – one handled by Anand himself and the other by Rao. Their collaboration brought a visual richness to the song. “Those 14 days of shoot was like a miracle,” he remembered.
Despite not being trained in the dance style required for Jumma Chumma, Bachchan ensured he perfected every move. “He will take his own sweet time, but he will make sure to do it 150 times better than me,” Prakash said. The biggest challenge was breaking Bachchan’s earlier dance pattern, which was influenced by Bhagwan Dada’s style.
“Breaking this pattern was the main issue for me. I needed to bring a new league with this song. I needed him to do something else from what he was doing. Probably, he even had a doubt. We shot for I think 7-8 days. Then we had a break. He said, ‘Let’s edit whatever we have shot so far and see how it turns out.’ Those days, we were shooting on film. So, for the negatives to arrive on the edit table would take a lot of time. Today, we can edit as we shoot. There was no playback on monitors like it is available today on set,” he said.
The legendary actor was also conscious of how certain steps would look on his tall frame. “He said, ‘Chinni, you are short, so it looks good on you. I am 6 feet tall, how will this step look on me?’ But I was firm that he must do it and told him, ‘Sir, you must do this step because you have never done this step. You can amplify this step on screen by 1000 times better than me.’ It all depends on who does a particular step. I had tried that step on so many South Indian actors before making Mr. Bachchan dance to it. But it didn’t work on anyone else. But it worked on Mr. Bachchan.”
The song became a milestone in Indian cinema, with its black-and-white aesthetic featuring Kimi Katkar in red – Mukul Anand’s signature touch. “That type of canvas was never seen in Indian cinema,” Prakash said. “It’s a treat to have a director with such vision.”
