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For the residents of Dhankawadi slum on the city outskirts, a few minutes of bad transmission is usually forgivable. But on Wednesday evening as residents of Sai Dutta Nagar in Dhanakwadi prepared for the show of all shows, they made sure no such ''crisis-situation'' would interrupt even a few seconds of viewing. For none of them wanted to miss those precious moments when 17-year-old Rahul Mane of their basti garnered accolades from ace choreographer Farah Khan for his performance on the reality show Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega. For Mane himself, the class XII student who earns an extra bit of income for his family as a newspaper vendor, the choreographer's compliments were a dream come true.

Bowled over by Mane's performance judges Anu Malik and Farah Khan regarded the act as a commendable one. Applauding the 17 year old's passion for dance the judges congratulated Mane's parents. The dance guru herself requested his parents to allow him to pursue a career in dance. Putting up a unique act — a dance performance with four legs — Mane had Farah Khan asking for an encore and won Rs 10,000 on the show. Elaborating on the act Mane's choreographer Ganesh Jadhav says, "The act gives you the impression that the person is dancing with four legs. The dancer uses two hands to make it look like two other legs and the coat has two artificial hands mad of cotton and thin rods."

Creditably enough the one-minute act was extended by 45 seconds as neither the audience nor judges could get enough of it. "The act was a little different because by attaching two artificial legs, I had to dance like a four-legged dancer. I used my hands to move the artificial legs and performed to the number Behka main behka from Ghajini. When Farah Khan, who has made even King Khan dance to her tunes, complimented me, I could not hold back tears of joy," says Mane. Khan commented that she had never seen something like this before.Calling it a unique concept she added that Mane is a born dancer.

Today, Mane, who went to a low-profile dance school to learn the art and put up with many disparaging comments, stands tall. In a parking space in Bibewadi, Mane's dance teacher Ganesh Jadhav conducted his classes. "Many of us did not even have chappals to wear. Other kids laughed at us. But the passion to learn dance kept us going," reminisces Mane.

However, Mane, who qualified for the one-minute round, could not advance to Friday's grand finale. Nevertheless, his spirits soar high. "I will definitely make a career in dance if supported," he says.