Sumanth Maroju and Sonali Majumdar — who form a dancing duo called Bad Salsa — feel blessed to be appreciated by the global audience for their performance at America’s Got Talent. By Team Viva

Kolkata based dancers Sumanth Maroju and Sonali Majumdar were part of the premiere episode of the show America’s Got Talent season 15 and received a  standing ovation from a panel of celebrity judges comprising Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell along with the audience. 

Part of Bivash Academy of Dance (BAD), the two travelled all the way from Kolkata to Los Angeles to participate in the reality show and took everyone by surprise with their electrifying performance which was a mix of acrobats and salsa. They danced to the song Dhating Naach from the Bollywood film Phata Poster Nikhla Hero.

The video of their performance has gone viral on the internet. It has garnered over 4.2 million views on Facebook and over 6.5 million views on Youtube. Excerpts:

How different did it feel to perform and reach the finale of one of the biggest talent shows of the world?

It was a dream come true for us. We always wanted to perform on such a platform that is internationally recognised and celebrated. Finally we did that and won millions of hearts. It felt very new and blessed to be seen and appreciated by the world audience.

After your Tattad Tattad and Top Lesi Pode performances, you’ve taken over the internet. How does it feel to be a viral sensation?

We never expected or thought of this. Good performance is everything that we can do, getting such positive comments and so much of love is really a feeling of greatness. We are gratified by the response. Being a viral sensation is one of the greatest achievement of our lives.

Tell us about your rehearsing schedule?

We train for six to eight hours daily. When there are reality shows, we increase that to 10 to 12 hours. We start our day with meditation, yoga, then exercise for two hours and rehearsals further. Our diet and resting hours are also scheduled accordingly.

Has this experience changed you as an artiste and as a person?

A lot. This experience taught us that we should never give up in life, no matter what the circumstances are and always hope for the best. When our audition was released, the video went viral and everything seemed so positive but then came the novel Coronavirus, which almost made us believe that it’s hard for the show to start again. That made us a bit sad because it was a great opportunity for us. But we were told to hope for the best and eventually everything turned out so well.

Tell us about the judges and if you had any favourites?

The judges were too sweet and encouraging. We got some of the best comments in our lives from the panel. Simon sir is our favourite but sadly he couldn’t be on the whole show, Howie sir, Heidi mam and Sofia mam are all too lovely. They loved us and were fond of our dancing.

What was your family’s reaction after you reached the finale?

They were proud when they heard that we had reached the finals. They insisted us to perform the best and enjoy ourselves while doing so. They always supported us like bass in a melody.

Any memorable anecdotes from the show?

There are many. One has to be when Simon sir said, “Without people like you, we have no show.” We travelled for 22 hours to get there and had to perform the very next day. There are a lot to mention in an answer.

What’s next for you?

We want to become dancing stars in the world whom people could look up to for inspiration. We will be dancing for the next 10 to 15 years. We want to perform in every possible corner of the world and represent our country. We strive to be one and do the undoable every time we are on the stage.

We come from a background where things were not smooth. We didn’t have that resources and exposure to be able to come this far. We broke barriers and never gave up. There are a lot of people who don’t have this exposure to showcase their talent, we want our voice to reach them. Bivash Sir owns a Gurukul where students from different parts of India come, stay and learn dance education. We want to gather people with talent who need exposure to train them to their best and help them explore themselves.

What were the on-ground challenges on the sets of America’s Got Talent?

The crew members on this show were very nice. There were some dance floor issues but we felt really comfortable throughout our set time.

( Watch America’s Got Talent S15 on Voot Select and Colors Infinity.)