Mumbai, Jan 12 : Shammi Kapoor's son Aditya Raj Kapoor is following his late father's footsteps. literally. He danced to his father's popular "Baar baar dekho" number from the film "Chinatown" and received compliments from none other than Hema Malini.

"Now I made my debut with the most fabulous Renuka Shahane, in dad's most memorable 'Baar baar dekho'. A Salsa tribute. Like me, Renuka is also a student with Sandeep Soparrkar and we have been rehearsing for the past few days," he said.

Aditya performed at a lounge here Tuesday and added: "We debut with other acts at the Sheesha lounge, Juhu with the worlds oldest dancer Tao Porchon-Lynch. She is 94 and still doing Ballroom.

"Hema Malini complimented both me and Renuka. I enjoyed myself! It was my deepest desire to dance to dad's songs as any kid likes to copy his parents. Sandeep helped me in realising my dreams by including me as a salsa solo act, with my partner of course, rather than in a group dance, which I had already done three times before with the Studio," he added.

Though Shammi Kapoor was known for his dance, Aditya feels his father didn't take dancing seriously enough."It always bothered me that had dad taken dancing more seriously, he would have made a professional stage dancer, internationally. I often told him that after I joined Sandeep Soparrkar's Ballroom Studio and took up Salsa," he said.

While learning to dance, Aditya realised he possessed his father's body language."As I moved up the levels and Sandeep himself took personal interest in removing the nonsense in my steps, I realised that I was standing in the same pose as dad stood, often at the beginning of the song. Right leg straight, left leg crossed, a typical Salsa basic men's step! As the teachers at the Studio went on to improve me at my age, I realised that my DNA was Salsa and I often remarked to dad that he must have been a Cuban Salsa dancer in his last birth," he said. (IANS)