When Priyanka Chopra was surprised by Terence Lewis’ popularity.
Priyanka Chopra is used to being the most popular person in the room, but there was a time when a fan wanted a picture with choreographer Terence Lewis and not her.
While travelling in a flight from Kolkata to Mumbai in 2010, Priyanka was surprised to see a young boy get all the adulation, so much so that the airport general manager refused to let the flight take off unless his wife got a picture with that celebrity. That was choreographer Terence Lewis.
“The general manager of the airport, the main guy, he was there. ‘Sir, you are here. You have an amazing show! My whole family watches it together. My kids are huge fans. My wife likes you a lot. You have to click a picture with her!’ I said, ‘Yes, sure. My flight takes off in half an hour.’ ‘No sir, my home is 45 minutes away. But I’ll make sure I take a picture.’ ‘But I’ll miss my flight!’ ‘No sir, I won’t let the flight take off!’ ‘Okay, but what about the other customers?’ So I just kept my mouth shut,” Terence said.
He further recalled in the interview with Pinkvilla, “Opposite me, Priyanka Chopra was also sitting there. She was looking at me. We’d done shows together. I’d choreographed for her, but I was a small choreographer doing my work. And suddenly, she’s seeing this young boy, how come he’s getting so much adulation! So she said, ‘Come here, sit next to me. What’s happening with your life?’ ‘No, this show has happened which is really massive and big. It’s taken me to everybody’s homes and hearts, and I’m very grateful.’ She said, ‘Amazing!’ And she was very generous, as usual. She said, ‘I’m so happy for you! Kudos to you!'”
The general manager’s wife arrived and saw Priyanka next to Terence. “Priyanka was so sweet. She said, ‘I’ll take a picture, Terence.’ Priyanka being Priyanka, how generous and awesome she is,” added Terence. He realised then that television has a massive reach. His family never watched his show since they weren’t fond of television or films, and were more focused on academics. Terence made his TV debut as a judge on Dance India Dance, which he did for three seasons.
Terence was also a judge on the dance reality show Nach Baliye in the fifth, sixth and eighth seasons. He also judged the shows So You Think You Can Dance (2016), Dance Champions (2017), and India’s Best Dancer for four seasons. He’s also choreographed a song in Ashutosh Gowariker’s 2001 period sports drama Lagaan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2013 romantic comedy Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela.
Meanwhile Priyanka Chopra, who made her Bollywood debut in 2003, had already done hits like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Aitraaz (2004), Krrish (2006), Don (2006), Fashion (2008), Dostana (2008), and Kaminey! (2009) by 2010.