The immediate comparison between Pinga (Bajirao Mastani, 2015) and Dola Re (Devdas, 2002) is easily made. Pinga has been designed keeping Dola Re in mind, and Bajirao Mastani director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has hyped the song as one of the major draws of his period epic. Just as the Madhuri Dixit-Nene-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan dance-off became the piece de resistance of Devdas, Pinga invites us to witness the bonding of two strong-willed women (Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone) who are in love with the same man (Ranveer Singh).
But it hasn’t always been this propitious. When two women dance together, it usually means that they are competing for a man’s attention, and the song becomes something like a mating ritual. Here are some dance-offs that have channeled the inner divas of the competing heroines.
The aptly titled instrumental, Dance of envy (Dil To Pagal Hai, 1997) says everything and more without letting in a word. Karisma Kapoor stuns a light-footed Madhuri Dixit, who does not give up without a fight. Their common object of desire: Shah Rukh Khan.
Manisha Koirala and Kajol, two actors who haven’t made significant contributions to dance tracks, stomp around a panic-stricken Bobby Deol in Yeh pyar kya hai (Gupt, 1997).
Dancing skills have stood Southern actresses trying to break into the Hindi movie business in good stead right from the times of Vyjayanthimala and Padmini. When Sridevi and Jaya Prada appeared in remakes of Telugu and Tamil films in the 1980s, they were often pitted against each other in roles that made good use of their fleet-footednesss. In Itni kisi ki majaal kahan (Majaal, 1987), the two beauties compete for the love of Jeetendra.
The other Southern import, Rekha, outsmarts a svelte Miss India Sonu Walia for the affections of a dashing Kabir Bedi in Main haseena gazab ki (Khoon Bhari Maang, 1988).
In Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) two dancing couples (Abhishek Bachchan-Lara Dutta, Bobby Deol-Preity Zinta) vie for a trophy through the title song dance-off with double the aggression. This hit song is reminiscent of Aa dekhein zara (Rocky,1981), in which Sanjay Dutt and Reena Roy compete against Tina Munim and Shakti Kapoor for the top prize.
The mother of all dance-offs took place in 1958 itself. Tamil film Vanjikkottai Valiban, inspired by the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, featured a rousing “dance duel” between Padmini and Vyjayanthimala with the prince (Gemini Ganesan) as the reward. The Tamil film was remade the same year in Hindi as Raj Tilak. Here is a clip comparing both versions.