Get set for comedy, singing, dancing and dhamaal — the grand finale of Boogie Woogie comes with celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shreyas Talpade, Anu Malik, Varun Dhawan, Ileana D'cruz and Nargis Fakhri having fun with finalists on stage. SANGEETA YADAV speaks with the top 5 contestants about their Boogie Woogie run and the memories they'll take home from this show
From Bollywood style dancing to locking and popping to lyrical hip hop, dougie and robotics, the top 5 dancers of Boogie Woogie Kids Championship — Mohammad Mumtaz, Aryan Patra, Sachin Sharma, Abhishek Sinha and Priyanka Tapadar — have been there and done it all with élan. The show, which premiered on December 7, 2013 with 16 contestants from across India, has come a long way and is all set for the grand finale on Sony Entertainment Television tonight.
Guest celebrities were in awe as the little performers danced to popular Bollywood numbers. The show’s highest Television Viewership in Millions (TVM) had touched 2.8. The grand finale will see the top 5 giving tribute to Amitabh Bachchan by performing a medley on his hit songs. Big B, besides promoting his upcoming movie Bhootnath Returns and announcing the winner, will also be seen shaking a leg with the fab five.
Other Bollywood stars who will be seen on the finale show are Shreyas Talpade, Anu Malik, Varun Dhawan, Ileana D’cruz and Nargis Fakhri who will be working to raise the entertainment quotient.
As for the contestants, some aspire to be the next Madhuri Dixit a Dharmesh Yelande (dancer turned actor) or Hrithik Roshan. Others like the 10-year-old Mohammad Mumtaz from Delhi, want to be good human beings.
Playing pranks on other contestants is something that Mumtaz loves. His father owns a tea stall in the Capital and the mother is a housewife. “It’s not just dance practice that keeps us busy, we play cricket with our choreographers Sumit Sharma and Vinod Tiwari. To practise on stage, we have to wait for our time slot which was usually around midnight or 1 am. So we had plenty of time on our hands. Hence, the pranks and the fun we have had so far,” Mumtaz who finds semi-classical a tough dance form and hip hop his forte, tells you.
Though his parents couldn’t afford to come to see him perform in Mumbai, his choreographer Mohammad Naushad (19) travelled to the business capital to be with him and help Mumtaz realise his dream. “Mumtaz used to dance in the local park. When I saw him, I liked his spirit and took up teaching him various dance forms. First, I took his parents’ consent. When I approached them, they told me that Mumtaz from now on would be my responsibility. I had been doing my first in BA Pass from Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College but had to stop my studies because of Mumtaz’s Boogie Woogie (BW) dream,” Naushad tells you. He adds that he has no regrets for not pursuing his studies. “Mumtaz is a brilliant dancer and leaving college for him has been worth it,” Naushad says.
It was not just dancing that the children were trained in. Personality development was also a part of their regimen. From teaching them how to dress, face the media, to teaching them to have fun on stage — the contestants were taught everything.
Abhishek Sinha (11) from Jamshedpur, who learnt dancing from his elder brother Aniket Sinha (19), says that the journey on BW has been a rollercoaster. Though their father was against him and his brother’s dancing, it was their mother who encouraged them.
“Abhishek’s father, who works with a biscuit company, never liked Aniket and Abhishek dance. He would say: ‘Bachcho ki padhai chhoot rahi hai. Dance mein koi career nahi hai’. But I told him that ‘Kuch pane ke liye kuch khoona padta hai. Aise mauke baar baar nahi milte. My relatives would also say the same and it would make me very angry. Aniket is doing his schooling and is an amateur dancer. Woh apne aap ko bhula kar Abhishek mein dhal chukka hai. Aur Abhishek jo ek cheez thaan leta hai, kar ke he rehta hai. Uska ek he maksad hai — Maa ka sapna pura kerna,” the proud mother says.
Sachin Sharma (13), who wants to be an actor, says that his forte in stunts made him a super hit with everybody on the show. “When Jackky Bhagnani came to the show, he was impressed by my performance as it had a lot of stunts. That day, I was given the nickname Stunt Ka Boss. I learnt dancing from choreographer Jatin who enrolled me in his dance group Good luck Boys in Faridabad. He helped me kickstart my dancing passion,” Sharma says.
Twelve-year-old Priyanka Tapadar from West Bengal feels proud that she is the only girl in the top 5. “It feels great. I learnt so much on the show. Khatak was difficult, but I think I’ve improved,” Tapadar says.
like Mumtaz, Aryan Patra (12) from Ranchi also found semi-classical dance tough. “We’ve all become such good friends. The show has come to an end. We will miss each other, the fun element and the pranks we played on each other. But hopefully, once we are back home, we will find a way to keep in touch with each other — the Internet has made that possible,” Patra says.