Remo D'Souza (born Ramesh Gopi Nair; 2 April 1974), is an Indian choreographer, film director, and producer. Over the course of his career spanning more than 25 years, D'Souza has choreographed more than 100 films. He is considered the most successful and renowned choreographer in the Bollywood industry and has served as a role model for many Indian choreographers. Additionally, he has been a judge on the dance reality show Dance Plus for seven consecutive seasons.[4]
Remo D’Souza | |
|---|---|
.jpg) D'Souza in June 2021 | |
| Born | Ramesh Gopi Nair [1] 2 April 1974[2] |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Spouse |
Lizelle D'Souza (m. 1999) |
| Children | 2 |
Early and personal life
D'Souza hails from Olavakkode, Palakkad, Kerala, born on 2 April 1974, in Bangalore into a Hindu family as Ramesh Gopi Nair to Gopi Nair, a NC(E) in the Indian Air Force, and Madhaviyamma, a housewife. He has an elder brother, Ganesh, and four sisters. During his school days, he was an athlete and won prizes in the 100 meter race.[2]
D'Souza completed his schooling at the Air Force School, Jamnagar, Gujarat. He completed his 12th from there and during his HSC board exam, he realized that he didn't have any interest in studies. He immediately left school and went to Mumbai, but his father wanted him to join the Indian Air Force. Whatever he has learned about dance until now is on his own. He learned to dance by watching movies, music videos, etc. He would rather say Michael Jackson is his guru as he used to copy his steps watching his dance on the television and then choreograph his own steps by adding something extra.[5]
D'Souza is married to Lizelle Watkins[6] (now D'Souza), an Anglo-Indian from Mumbai. After converting to Christianity, he changed his name to Remo D'Souza. Lizelle is a costume designer who has worked on various television shows, designing costumes. The couple has two sons named Dhruv and Gabriel. Currently, D'Souza and his family reside in Andheri West, Mumbai.[7] Lizelle also collaborates with him and assists him in various projects.
On 11 December 2020, D'Souza suffered a heart attack and was admitted[8] to the ICU of Kokilaben Hospital, Mumbai. Soon, he recovered and got discharged.[9]
Career
D'Souza is a choreographer in Bollywood films and music videos. He has choreographed a number of films. Remo made his television debut with the dance reality show Dance India Dance (DID) along with choreographer Terence Lewis and Geeta Kapoor as judges and mentors. They trained 18 contestants in dance form of ballet, acrobatics, mid-air dancing, contemporary, Bollywood and hip-hop. He made his directorial debut with the comedy film F.A.L.T.U, which received a positive response from critics.
Remo's next directorial venture was the coming-of-age 3D dance-based film ABCD: Any Body Can Dance which starring Prabhu Deva, Dharmesh Yelande, Lauren Gottlieb, Salman Yusuff Khan and Punit Pathak. ABCD received positive reviews from critics and the film's soundtrack also received positive response from critics.
In 2015, Remo directed the second installment of the ABCD franchise, titled Disney's ABCD 2. It stars Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhu Deva, Raghav Juyal, Lauren Gottlieb, Dharmesh Yelande and Punit Pathak, the film explores the career journey of Suresh and Vernon of the "fictitious dance crew" Kings United India, who went on to win the World Hip Hop Dance Championship in San Diego. The film received positive reviews from critics and the film's soundtrack also received a positive response from critics.
Later, he appeared on (season 4–7) of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa with the Indian actress Madhuri Dixit and director Karan Johar. He was also the "super judge" on the prime time dance show Dance Plus on Star Plus, along with host Raghav Juyal and team captains Dharmesh Yelande, Shakti Mohan, and Punit Pathak.
In 2016, Remo directed A Flying Jatt, It was released on 24 August 2016, which starring Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Nathan Jones. The film tells the story of an ordinary man (Shroff) who gains superpowers. The film received mixed reviews from critics and Anupama Chopra from the Hindustan Times gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 and said "The first half of A Flying Jatt has moments of fun – I loved that despite being a superhero he has a fear of heights, so he flies very close to the ground. But post-interval, laughter takes a back seat.
Later, he judged the (season 2–3) of Dance Plus along with host Raghav Juyal and team captains Dharmesh Yelande, Shakti Mohan, and Punit Pathak. He then appeared as a judge on the reality show Dance Champions opposite Terence Lewis.
He also directed Race 3 the film featured Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah, Saqib Saleem and Freddy Daruwala. Race 3 was an internationally mounted saga of a family that deals in borderline crime. It was released on 15 June 2018 coinciding with Eid Though the movie received negative reviews, it was a box office success collecting over ₹178.98 crores in India and approximately ₹303 crores worldwide.
D'Souza judged (season 4-5) of Dance Plus along with host Raghav Juyal, Sugandha Mishra (co-host on season 4 and guest in season 5) and team captains Dharmesh Yelande, Shakti Mohan (season 4), Suresh Mukund (season 5 and to be continued), Karishma Chawan (season 5 and to be continued), and Punit Pathak.
In 2020, Remo directed the third installment of ABCD Franchise titled Street Dancer 3D which retained some of original casts including Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhu Deva, Raghav Juyal, Dharmesh Yelande, Punit Pathak and added Nora Fatehi, Salman Yusuff Khan and Vartika Jha. The film tells the story of two rival dance groups, despise each other and participate in a dance battle. Later, they decide to join hands for a greater cause. It was released on 24 January 2020 and received positive reviews from critics. The film has a worldwide gross collection of ₹102 crores and the film's soundtrack also received a positive response from critics.
Awards
| Film awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
| 2004 | Tehzeeb | Zee Cine Awards | Best Choreography | Nominated | |
| 2011 | Enthiran | Vijay Awards | Best Find of the Year | Won | |
| 2013 | Student of the Year | Zee Cine Awards | Best Choreography (For the song "Disco Deewane") | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani | Screen Awards | Best Choreography (for the song "Badtameez Dil") | Won | |
| Zee Cine Awards | Won | ||||
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | Won | ||||
| Producer's Guild Film Awards | Won | ||||
| Best Choreography (for the song "Balam Pichkari") | Won | ||||
| 2016 | Anybody Can Dance 2 | BIG Star Entertainment Awards | Most Entertaining Social Film | Won | |
| Stardust Awards | Best Choreography (for all songs of ABCD 2) | Won | |||
| Screen Awards | Best Choreography (for the song "Sunn Saathiya") | Won | |||
| Bajirao Mastani | 63rd National Film Awards | Best Choreography (for the song "Deewani Mastani") | Won | ||
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | Won | ||||
| Producer's Guild Film Awards | Best Choreography (for the song "Pinga") | Won | |||
| Best Choreography (for the song "Deewani Mastani") | Nominated | ||||
| Zee Cine Awards | Nominated | ||||
| 64th Filmfare Awards | Nominated | ||||
| Best Choreography (for the song "Pinga") | Nominated | ||||
| 2020 | Kalank | 65th Filmfare Awards | Best Choreography (For the song "Ghar More Pardesiya") | Won | |
| Television awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Show | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
| 2013 | Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa | Colors Golden Petal Awards | Best Non-Fiction Judge | Nominated | |
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Pardes |  |
|
 |
a small role in a song meri mehbooba |
| 1997 | Aflatoon | |
|
|
|
| 2004 | Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities | |
|
|
|
| 2007 | Lal Pahare'r Katha | |
|
|
|
| 2011 | F.A.L.T.U | |
|
|
|
| 2013 | ABCD: Any Body Can Dance | |
|
|
|
| 2014 | DOA Death of Amar | |
|
|
|
| Entertainment | |
|
|
||
| 2015 | ABCD 2 | |
|
|
|
| 2016 | A Flying Jatt | |
|
|
|
| 2018 | Race 3 | |
|
|
|
| Nawabzaade | |
|
|
||
| Zero | |
|
|
||
| 2020 | Street Dancer 3D | |
|
|
|
| 2021 | Time to Dance | |
|
|
|
| 2024 | Madgaon Express | |
|
|
Dr.Danny, special appearance |
| 2024 | Be Happy | |
|
|
Pre-production |
Choreography
Television
| Year | Show | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Dance India Dance (season 1) | Judge |
| Dance India Dance (season 2) | Judge | |
| 2010 | Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4 | Judge |
| Dance India Dance Doubles | Guest Judge | |
| 2011 | Dance Ke Superstars | Judge |
| Dance India Dance (season 3) | Judge | |
| 2012 | Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5 | Judge |
| Comedy Circus Ke Ajoobe | Guest | |
| Nach Baliye 5 | Guest & Judge | |
| 2013 | Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6 | Judge |
| 2014 | Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 | Judge |
| 2015 | Dance Plus | Judge |
| 2016 | Dance Plus 2 | Judge |
| 2017 | Dance Plus (season 3) | Judge |
| Dance Champions | Judge | |
| 2018 | Dance Plus (season 4) | Judge |
| 2019 | Dance Plus 5 | Judge |
| 2020 | India's Best Dancer | Guest/Judge |
| 2021 | Dance Dance Junior Season 2 | Guest Judge (Grand Finale) |
| Dance Plus 6 | Judge | |
| 2022 | DID Little Master (Season 5) | Grand Master |
| 2022 | DID Super Moms | Grand Master |
| 2023 | India's best dancer (Season 3) | Guest judge |
| 2023 | Hip hop india | Judge |
| 2023 | Dance plus pro | Super Judge |
Music videos
Here are the music videos directed by Remo
| Year | Song | Singer | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | GF BF Song | Gurinder Seagal, Jacqueline Fernandez | ||
| 2017 | Baby Marvake Maanegi | Raftaar | [10] | |
| 2018 | Main Hua Tera | Avitesh Shrivastava | [11] | |
| 2019 | The Chamiya Song | DJ Bravo, Rimi Nique, Gaurav Dagaonkar | ||
| 2020 | Swag Se Solo | Sachet Sandon, Tanishk Bagchi | ||
| Saaton Janam | Ishan Khan, Shambhavi Thakur | [12] | ||
| Dil Na Todunga | Abhi Dutt | |||
| Baby Girl | Guru Randhawa, Dhvani Bhanushali | [13] | ||
| Log Kya Kahenge | Abhinav Shekhar | |||
| 2021 | Vande Mataram | Tiger Shroff | [14] | |
| 2022 | Nach Babe | Sunny Leone | Performer |
References
- ^ "Remo D'Souza aka Ramesh yadav: Top 9 celebrities and their real names". india.com.
- ^ a b Asian Paints (26 December 2013). Har Ghar Kucch Kehta Hai – Ninth Episode Remo D'Souza. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021 – via YouTube. Birthdate and birthplace noted at 58 seconds.
- ^ "Remo D'Souza on his love story with Lizelle D'Souza and their first meeting". The Times of India.
- ^ "'Remo inspired many choreographers to move to direction,' says Bosco Martis". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "Exclusive biography of #RemoDSouza and on his life". FilmiBeat. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ "Lizelle Watkins: The Pillar Behind Remo D'Souza's Success". thearunjoshiverse. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Step inside Remo D'Souza and Lizelle's eclectic home that their friends believed was unlucky for him". Hindustan Times. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ "Remo D'Souza suffers a heart attack, wife Lizelle D'Souza confirms that he's better now". filmfare.com.
- ^ "Remo D'souza suffers a heart attack, admitted to hospital in Mumbai". Hindustan Times. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ "Raftaar x Nora Fatehi – Baby Marvake Maanegi – YouTube". 8 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2019 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Wish to act in Bollywood films: Avitesh Shrivastava". radioandmusic.com. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "Watch New Hindi Hit Song Music Video – 'Saaton Janam' Sung By Ishaan Khan and Shambhavi Thakur | Hindi Video Songs". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ^ "Baby Girl: Guru Randhawa and Dhvani Bhanushali's second collaboration to release on October 1". The Times of India. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ "Vande Mataram Song: Tiger Shroff unveils motion poster of his new single". Bollywood Bubble. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
External links
- Remo D'Souza at IMDb