Bollywood: Elli AvrRam calls Aamir Khan 'grounded, humble'

Bollywood actress and former Bigg Boss contestant Elli AvrRam is currently making heads turn, matching moves with none other than superstar Aamir Khan in Har Funn Maula, a song from the upcoming film Koi Jaane Na.

Even though the Laal Singh Chaddha star recently announced he was leaving social media, the news doesn’t appear to have dampened enthusiasm for his work, with fans going gaga over the video for Har Funn Maula which has already racked up over 40 million views on YouTube.

Elli who made her Bollywood debut with Mickey Virus back in 2013 had earlier received compliments from Aamir for her work in the track Fidaai. She says she feels “extremely blessed” to have been part of Har Funn Maula.

In a Zoom conversation with City Times, the gorgeous Swedish-Greek actress, who spent some time in Dubai last year for a shoot and is full of praise for the city, spoke about her passion for dancing and why working with Aamir in Har Funn Maula was “truly a strong and beautiful validation for working so hard all these years in Bollywood.”

The number of views is spectacular — 40 million and counting — and fans are loving your chemistry with Aamir. How do you feel about being part of Har Funn Maula?

I feel extremely blessed and just great! There is a lot of gratitude and love. I got this song a year back, then Covid happened. And I was like, ‘I really hope this song is going to happen, let’s see when…’ We finally shot it, with God’s grace, and it is an experience which has left me with so many beautiful memories. The way it’s come out, the kind of response it has got, it’s just pure love, for sure!

While there’s a lot of buzz because you danced with Aamir Khan, the audience is loving your looks and moves in the song as well. What was it like matching steps with the superstar?

Simply beautiful. He’s such a wonderful person. I remember when I moved to Mumbai, people were always talking about what a perfectionist he is, how humble and amazing he is. Then I met him and it was just so right — all the things I heard about him are true!

He is this huge superstar but he is such a beautiful human being. He’s so grounded, he’s so humble, he’s so real. That’s what I love about him, as well as how supportive he was and open to hearing your thoughts and your opinions. That is something one really takes notice of and where you feel great because you feel like ‘I am also being respected as a human being’, because we’re doing this together, we all are like a big team. So I really love that about him, how he allows everyone to express their thoughts, and is willing to give their ideas a try. That’s just how it should be, I feel, and it was so beautiful to get that experience with him. Because of all this, I want to work with him again even more.

Everyone would love to go to a work place feeling good and knowing that you’re also being seen and are part of the team. Especially as an artist, because if you’re not allowed to express then you feel choked.

That’s an important point because Aamir Khan has been a popular star for over three decades and everyone looks at Har Funn Maula thinking ‘oh, Aamir khan is in it’. But if you feel you got equal footing and he gave you that kind of platform and respect, it’s great.

That’s why I feel so extremely blessed. Especially coming from Aamir who is such a perfectionist and you can see from his work that he really knows what he is doing. You can see the finesse that he has. Getting to dance with him and having him appreciating my art is a huge compliment. I would say it’s truly a strong and beautiful validation for working so hard all these years in Bollywood.

Aamir is known to be a perfectionist no matter what project he takes on. Did he want a lot of takes or was it all smooth-sailing at the shoot?

We both rehearsed so well and he learned everything during the rehearsals so when we went for the take it was not a matter of ‘oh step nahin aa raha hai’. We both knew our steps completely. He catches the beats, the feeling… which has to be right more than the moves being right. The mood, expression, the swag — that has to be bang on. Which he does really well.

And also, he is so strong! He knows how to hold you correctly and his grip is really good so you feel so comfortable, when there was a lift, or I had to fall down or get up or be turned.

It might look as if that is not a big deal but it is really important. The difference is that when you’re not strong enough or if you don’t know how to hold properly, the girl is going to feel suddenly scared, and her body automatically will not trust the person.

You received a lot of praise (including compliments from Aamir) for your choreography in the music video for Rahul Jain’s recent track Fidaai as well. What does dancing mean to you?

Ever since I was in my mother’s belly, I have been dancing! My mother was also an actress, she was doing a play of Scheherazade which involved dancing and she did that play till she was in her seventh month. For seven months I was actually in my mother’s belly, moving! So it’s definitely something that’s always been there in me. Having said that, I was also a figure skater, and again, that’s all about expressing, dancing on ice, performing. And with that figure skating training came ballet classes, modern dance.

I am currently shooting for a new film. It’s a very sweet story. I can’t speak more about it because a proper announcement hasn’t been made yet. I believe I will do that once I’ve completed the shoot. But it’s something I am extremely looking forward to as an actor and seeing what my fans will think because it is something I am doing for the first time; I have been working very hard to get everything right. Let’s see how that goes.