Bhangracersing your way to health


“Hellooooo,” sang Honey Kalaria over the phone. “That was very prompt. I just left a message on your answer phone.”

I could not decide whether she had a naturally lyrical voice or was just making an extra effort to sound chirpy.  Later I decided she was naturally lyrical. But hey, here was Britain’s biggest gift to Bollywood being nice to me, and I had no intention of complaining.

In September 2002, Momentum Pictures had released Honey Kalaria's 'Bollywood Workout', an exercise video and DVD based on the music and dance of the Indian film industry. The video, which is a blend of Bollywood and Bhangra style dance moves and aerobics went straight to the number one slot in the charts and sold 5000 copies in the first week.

“Luckily I had an article in Metro from where Momentum Pictures got my number. They had this Director, Steve Kensley in mind for the video,” she said, managing to sing the words yet again. “He came along and when he saw my Bollywood dancing, he immediately wanted to use it for his workout video.”

Next week, Honey is flying to Bombay to finish filming her first ever Bollywood movie, Indian Babu. Parts of the film had been shot around London earlier this year.


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“I’ve turned down a few film offers in the past playing opposite stars like Govinda, Sulman Khan and Sunil Shetty. This particular offer was great because quite a bit of the filming took place in London. I’ve got just one problem now – I’ve been bitten by the acting bug!” she said – sorry, she sang.

Jamie Oliver from the Naked Chef had invited her down once when he wanted to organise a Bollywood party at his house. “He did an Indian food day, and boy was he a good cook,” she continued singing. “If I can cook like him I would be ten stones by now.”

“Did you help cook the food?” I asked.

“Oh no!” she laughed. “It was more like tasting the food, not cooking it.”

Honey has always been always been vegetarian and has never drunk alcohol.  “Everyone finds it so difficult when I come to a party,” she claimed. “Even my dad tried to prompt me by saying that everyone had champagne. But I still hover around with my orange juice.”

Honey had met the famous Bollywood music director Bappi Lahiri when she had danced for a pop video he was producing.  He asked Honey to try her hand at singing (which she does anyway, in case you forgot).  He gave Honey full rights to do a remix of Habiba, a song which had gone to the charts in the 1980s.

“We went to the studio and Bappi Lahiri stuck this earphone into my ears, and said, ‘sing’. He encouraged me in a way that made me feel confident,” she said. It was from this encounter that her ‘Time 2 Dance’ album was born.

“Were you ever trained to sing before?” I asked her, then bit my lip. Why should someone who sang while speaking normally ever need any training?

“I had never ever sung before, but the rhythm of my dancing helped me,” she waxed on. “Normally people are tensed up thinking, ‘O my God, O my God, O my God, O my God, what’s going to happen?’, and then things don’t usually work out. I was not worried, and just decided to enjoy the experience. That gave me the confidence and things went smoothly”

“Speaking of God, do you ever pray?” I asked, trying to recover my breath after all the ‘O my God-ing’ she had sprung on me without the slightest warning.

“I am quite a spiritual person. Every month I hold a spiritual meeting in my studio,” she said in a subdued tune. “I normally leave things in God’s hands, and I do find the time to pray and meditate. I believe that every single person on this earth is here for a journey. I feel I am here to contribute to this journey through dance.”

“And do you have any major show planned in London?” I asked.

“Oh yes, when we launch the premier of Indian Babu early next year, you will be the first person I shall invite,” she beamed.

Things have never been better.