Career
She began her career by assisting Chinni Prakash. She had her acting debut in the Malayalam film Snehapoorvam Anna, but returned to her roots as a dancer and choreographer.
Her first solo work was the choreography for the song "Dhol Baaje" for the hit film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. She won a National Film Award for her work. She took a short break from the industry and then returned with a bang in the form of the song "'O Ri Chhori'" from the Oscar-nominated Lagaan in 2001.
She continued to choreograph selected numbers in prominent films such as Devdas (2002 film), Baghban, Fida, Dhoom, Veer Zaara, Aaja Nachle and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. She also choreographed the Australian musical The Merchants of Bollywood, a musical written by Toby Gough about her family. Her sister, Shruti Merchant has been directing the musical both in the United Kingdom and Australia. She also choreographed one of the most popular songs of 2005, "Kajra Re" from Bunty Aur Babli, winning several awards for her choreography for the song.
She was a judge on Nach Baliye 3 along with David Dhawan and Isha Koppikar. She returned as a judge once again on the third season of the popular TV show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa alongside judges Saroj Khan and Juhi Chawla and on Zara Nach Ke Dikha 2 along with Arshad Warsi and Shilpa Shetty. She was recently a judge on Star Plus Just Dance, along with Farah Khan and Hrithik Roshan.
Read more about this topic: Vaibhavi Merchant
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