THERE isn’t a month goes by when celebrities from cricket stars to news readers and soap stars haven’t been showing us that the medium of dance can be cool. Next month, however, Scotland will be treated to a spectacular outdoor performance by a group inspired by Bollywood films who really know how to dance. fresh sent me along for a sneak preview.

The intimidatingly glamorous-looking group of dancers, collectively known as Bollywood Steps, has just rehearsed the routine it will be performing north of the Border in May. The London studio the group is using is the usual whitewashed square room with big windows and black curtains and the dancers are wearing comfortable black day clothes. But even without the water displays, lighting effects, pyrotechnics, elaborate multi-levelled set and 150 costume changes that will add the visual spark to the performance on the day, it’s still a thrill to watch.

What’s more, no matter how complex the dancers’ routine gets, they always make it look extremely easy. Once they’ve finished, though, it’s my turn to have a go. All I have to do is grab the forefinger of my right hand, place my arms above my head, and pose my right leg behind my left leg in an elegant manner. Needless to say, Simmy Gupta, founder of Bollywood Steps and choreographer for the group, has to readjust me completely, tilting my head and body and generally making me look a little less clumpy. Clearly I should have had a stab at this a couple of decades ago when, as Gupta explains, backing dancers used to be frumpy in order to make the heroine look good.

At least my embarrassing attempts at a couple of Bollywood moves go to show just how much effort and talent has gone into creating each of the routine’s very different segments. Simmy is on hand constantly, tinkering with the routine she’s put together from scratch with the aim of charting the dramatic changes that have taken place in Bollywood film over the years.

“We wanted to start off with what people would expect from Bollywood girls with their simple saris, flowers in their hair, looking very pretty and innocent,” she says. “Then later we bring in what maybe you wouldn’t expect – the male dancers in smart black suits, which would bring to mind the Indian James Bond and superboy icons.”

Gupta joins in with some of the routine and is quite obviously an impressive dancer herself. Now 34, she’s been dancing for over 15 years, having been classically trained by Nahid Siddiqui in the 500-year-old tradition of Kathak dance – “a story-telling dance that’s similar to ballet but more grounded, with more foot work and flat-feet dancing”.

She later learned creative dance before setting up the company Nutkhut (meaning ‘mischievous’) in 2004 with her husband. Among their first projects was the task of organising a performance in London for Diesel who were promoting a clothing range inspired by south Indian design. Bollywood Steps (part of Nutkhut) was formed when Gupta was asked to create a spectacle, Bollywood on Bikes, to take place in Trafalgar Square as part of the city’s Bike Week.

Gupta talks me through the rest of the routine, which is based on traditional dance styles but peppered with pop-culture references. “We wanted to make it appeal to a non-Bollywood savvy audience to let them see where Bollywood and South Asian dance has got to,” she says. “It’s very sophisticated these days, with high production values, and reflects the changes that have taken place in Bollywood film. The films used to look dated and you could easily pick out their flaws. It’s not like that now, and the dance styles are more of a mixture.

So, there’s some Britney-style dancing here, a bit of Kylie there and one segment, says Gupta, is reminiscent of the Matrix movies. “There are lots of college love stories now, too, with sassy girls,” she says.

Other sections of the routine look back to memories from Gupta’s childhood, such as the sequence that borrows from the old black and white-era movies that she used to watch with her father (at this point the men will be wearing a traditional Nehru garment).

The routine is also packed with nods to other Bollywood traditions, new and old. There’ll be a “drunk scene” in which, it seems, there’ll be a decent amount of water spillage, and another involving the men having their heads covered by saris so they can feign being ladies and trick the single women into a dance.

Music and costume, too, are as up-to-date as they can be. “The men will eventually get down to vest and trousers in this bit,” says Gupta, pointing to the men. “It’s a bit of a reference to Salman Khan, who is famous for always taking his shirt off.”

The studio, by now, has been warmed up by moving bodies and the windows have to be opened. There’ll be no such temperature-controlling luxury at Big in Falkirk, where the dancers will be at the mercy of the weather. “Well, they get wet anyway with the water display,” Gupta points out. “And that’s a highlight for the dancers, having the opportunity to perform outdoors with the wind blowing in their faces.”

Bollywood Steps by Nutkhut, Big in Falkirk, Sat May 3 (3.45pm, 9.45pm) and Sun May 4 (3.45pm, 9.15pm).

BOLLYWOOD BITES

Bollywood may not have a humongous sign at the top of a hill, but the Indian film industry is every bit as razzmatazz as its Hollywood counterpart. Based in Mumbai, its films commonly weave catchy dance numbers and music into the script. In fact, often a film’s box office success hinges on the quality of its music.

The highest grossing Bollywood film of all time is Om Shanti Om, raked in 86,50,00,000 Indian rupees – or £10,959,602. The most expensive film ever is likely to be the epic Mahabharata, being filmed this year and expected to cost up to £30m.

Thanks to Big Brother, Shilpa Shetty may well be the best known star over here, but there are plenty of big names, none more so than keen vest wearer Hrithik Roshan and the sassy Aishwarya Rai.

With heaps of melodrama and a heady cocktail of star-crossed lovers and angry parents, the films have mass appeal. The dancing is modelled on classical Indian and folk dances. But in recent years, there has been a noticeable impact of western culture with the likes of Britney Spears, right, providing the impetus for alternative moves.

And don’t forget the emergence of the puckered lips. That’s right, kissing is now well and truly on the cards, having been previously considered taboo.