‘This is your moment‚ kill it.’ Joburg performer gushes after dancing with Bollywood star

Numb from head to toe. That’s how Johannesburg performer Sashin Kandhai felt when he danced with legendary Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit on stage.

"She woke up and made her way towards me and I froze and then I told myself‚ ‘This is your moment‚ kill it! Make it something people will never forget. But don't mess up‚ it's Madhuri Dixit’‚" Kandhai told TimesLIVE.

The 26-year-old professional performing artist featured on Dance Deewane‚ a reality dance show on Colors TV in Mumbai India‚ after winning the South Africa leg of the contest.

Knowing that show is judged by Dixit‚ director Shashank Khaitan and choreographer Tushar Kalia‚ Kandhai pounced on the opportunity to get the superstar on stage with him.

"I've been studying the show since the first episode so I knew that the contestants always ask the judges to please come on stage and dance with them. So‚ after my performance I humbly asked Madhuri mam if she would join me on stage and dance to the song Ghagra since we had done it five years ago in Durban‚" he said.

In 2013‚ Kandhai was Dixit's back-up dancer at the South African India Film and Television Awards (SAIFTA) awards held in Durban.

"So many dancers would kill to just shake her hand. I've danced with her twice now‚" he said.

Kandhai has been dancing since he was old enough to understand what dance was‚ and has been dancing professionally for the last 10 years.

"My dancing career has been a journey of mixed emotions. There have been extreme highs like winning three championships‚ but also extreme lows like quiet months with no work where you sit and question what you're doing with your life.

"I've had breakdown moments when I thought maybe I should just stop now. But the little flame of hope in me refused to die out and I pushed pass the bad phases and today‚ slow and steady has won the race‚" Kandhai said.