Teach us the tough stuff, we said

We are eager to know where Jennifer Lopezs copper cord shoe is Hurled at The Kings United as a mark of respect after their opening act to Dhakka Laga Bukka from Yuva at The World of Dance 2019 in Los Angeles the shoe were told made its way back to the American megastars feet Assistant choreographer Karthik Priyadarshan parted with the souvenir because he wished that The Kings come across as gentlemenWe told him are you mad You returned JLos shoe one of them criesThe actorsinger who was cojudge on the show posted a video of their act on Instagram and wrote Shook to the coreThe 13member hip hop troupe founded by Suresh Mukund with boys from the neighbourhoods of VasaiVirar in 2008 brought home the cup to the worlds biggest dance championship in May after they flipped jumped tumbled and somersaulted dressed as Spartans going to war Their score of 100 won them a booty of 1million When we meet eight of them at The Kingdom of Art a threestudio training space in Vasai theres palpable excitement as the world champions discuss the launch of their Andheri studio Bahut time ho gaya Vasai mein they roar Its a big step for us Weve opened one of the biggest dance companiesFor young men from lesser privileged families the move to Mumbai from the outskirts seems far more precious than the championship crown They agree instantly when we say lets pepper the conversation with a bit of grooving What do we want to learn were asked How about a section of your winning act we decide Dont askWe are ready with friends from the Yellow Stripe Dance Company Kamna Arora Utsav Malhotra and Karishma Batra to back us The boys gentlemen as they are dont push us to the brink Simple hai one of them announces at the onsetThe confidence has been earned There wasnt a single dry eye in the group when they were announced winners We were instantly reminded of the struggle we endured to reach here says Chandan Acharya Most of their parents disagreed with their choice of passion preferring if they studied and got jobs to run the home Mukund suffered a similar fate Its this struggle that inspired choreographerturneddirector Remo DSouza to fashion Varun Dhawans character in ABCD 2 around himMukund says Priyadarshan was in the third year of engineering at a Pune college when he coaxed his parents to relieve him to participate in the World HipHop Dance Championships in California in 2016 It was only after their winmdashThe Kings were the first Indian act to take home a medal heremdashthat his parents allowed him to explore the arts as a career One of the early members Acharya and Sunny Chatterjee recall heading out to municipal gardens in Vasai to practice acrobatic moves We learnt BBoying by watching Step Up and decided to weave stunts into dance to entertain people says Acharya of the 2006 American dance romance film The pair was spotted by Vernon Monteiro who initially formed a dance company by handpicking skilled boys Joining hands with Mukund Monteiro founded Fictitious Dance GroupAs Fictitious popularity soared among Vasai locals and they gathered fans at reality shows like Boogie Woogie and Indias Got Talent then fanboy and now member Mohan Pandey recalls sending adulatory messages to the team We read those messages recently and had a good laugh he similes In 2012 the Fictitious Dance Group launched an ABCD dance competition inspired by the Hindi film It was judged by the films star cast and its here that Mukund spotted Pandey When I got serious about dance my parents grew concerned but they didnt stop me Gradually I joined the group and after the ABCD championship went on to star in ABCD 2 That was a big achievement he thinksNeeraj Vishwakarma is the face of most of their tricks He talks less and does more He is too shy to share an anecdote with us urging his friends to narrate his story Having joined Fictitious as a student several years ago he was appointed part of the team close on the heels of its dismemberment When the Fictitious split he didnt know if he wanted to join Suresh or Vernon Eventually he decided to go where his friends belonged We formed The Kings United says AcharyaMukund who is in Los Angeles after being nominated at the Emmys in the Choreography for Variety or Reality Program category speaks to us that night over the phone He says Vishwakarmas father a watchman considered World Of Dance WOD an eyewash and the individual prize money of R40 lakh a joke until it reached himRubber Boy Hardik Rawat from Rajasthan a dance reality show regular before he joined The Kings with Sunny Chatterjee and Chandan Acharya who says being at WOD taught them discipline and poiseUntil he earned money from dance a schoolgoing Charles Edward didnt tell his parents that he was associated with the troupe Failing to afford the fees he became the first student to avail of the scholarship programme and would travel 90 minutes each way from Dahisar to Vasai to train As students wed often peep through the doors and watch our mentors practice If theyd spot us theyd encourage us to join Thats how I got better and joined them three years later recalls Edwards He began as a student and for the World Of Dance act he was our centre dancer Thats his journey says a proud Pandey Edwards mentorPratik Gujares home had a television without a cable connection He was ignorant of the universe of dance reality shows His only introduction to them was when hed spot them in parks When they told him he could train with them for Rs 700 a month he thought forget it But the rest were no less disadvantaged than him and so gave him a chance Today at 20 Gujare is the youngest member of the groupMohan PandeyFor dance reality showregular Hardik Rawat the first brush with The Kings was when he was sharing the judge panel with Mukund I had been dancing since I was 10 and grew to fame as a solo dancer he says As the participant of a popular dance show he earned the title of Rubber Boy from Remo DSouza It was that stint apart from the 150odd dance competitions he won back home in Rajasthan that earned him a spot on a cultural events judging panel Thats when I got invited to be part of the crew in 2015 ahead of our participation in the Hip Hop International HHI The Kings won the bronze that yearPoignant yes but none of their stories evoke sympathy For the most part The Kings bond over ample laughter and their common love to entertain Living out of suitcase since their win they cherish the reactions of inquisitive officials at visa offices enquiring about the reason for their application You are The Kings they exclaim when we tell them Its nice that people across the world know us says AcharyaThe group has travelled to Dubai Las Vegas Bali and Singapore among sundry places Neeraj jokes Were only not available for India In September they took off to America for a twomonth long tour travelling across 36 cities and performing at 40 shows The tours are now the money spinner instead of the earlier ad films corporate shows product launches and reality showsBut its a possible film project thats leaving them nervous with excitement Were in a discussion for an international dance film based on this competition Its called No Dance No Life and will feature other participants from the show This is exciting because first we would watch international dance films and now well be starring in one There is one more film we are considering based on our journey Pandey saysIts time to dance Pandey takes us through a slowmotion sequence that suspends the use of counts while dancing It isnt merely a bar or two but a full 40minute chunk of anticipating when the next move must be made Hear the music properly he announces when asked what can guide our the next move making it amply clear that the traditional rotelearning of choreography based on counting 5678 is not the method they take to One last time he announces for the fifth time possibly not persuaded with our act just yet One more he says again then breaks into a smilePandey is a man who wears his smile proudly But on the dance floor he means business After having us execute two bars of choreography about 10 times he is still unhappy with the harmless faces were carrying It doesnt matter that we are not performing on stage and that this is only for a newspaper article If we are executing a choreography he needs us to be performers He demands of us an attitude for the energetic act the kind that he carries when executing it for us over and over again Despite the fact that they must have performed it amply the rest of the crew seated in the studios corner mark the act with hand gestures Theyve done this sequence a hundred times over but when they come on the floor to assist they skip a beat dance too fast lose sight of their codancers and then laugh it all off But when put together to give us a performance the groupmdashnow in denims and shirtsmdashare every bit the warriors we saw on screenHow did they do it we are eager to knowmdashbattle the finest dancers with decades of professional training behind them in a style thats not rooted in India We always add Indian flavour to our dance and music I recall after one of the acts a judge came on stage and performed the desi steps with us Acharya says Two of our dances that went viral one on Robot and the other on Baahubali The World of Dance team spotted these videos and invited us for the competition So we knew that our strength lay in the Indian elements of choreography We use both Bollywood and Tollywood songsNeeraj Vishwakarmas pink father who is employed as security guard considered World Of Dance an eyewash and the individual prize money of R40 lakh a joke until it reached him To his left is Charles Edward who couldnt afford the grouprsquos fees but went on to become the centre dancer at WODMukund says that having built this team over several years means he knows exactly where each members strength lies In one competition I employed a crew member who could do only flips He couldnt dance But because he could do the flips brilliantly he added to the choreography beautifullyIts not hard to decipher that as the team goes about fulfilling their and their head choreographers dream Mukund watches over them He has nurtured the group for years well aware that taking the responsibility for every member means he is often at the receiving end Keeping a team together is a task because everyone has his own dream and opinion Initially I spent everything that I earned on them I knew that if they didnt get the money in their hands their parents would object So whatever I earned Id give to them Id help them when a family member was unwell I had to give them the confidence that they could depend on me during tough times Showing them that dance could meet monetary requirements was importantInterestingly although its WOD that changed their fortunes they mention HHI often enough This is surprising because Mukund admits that despite winning HHI there was no buzz They didnt get work and business was low HHI was special because unlike WOD it was an old competition The vibe there is reminiscent of the Olympics We had a flag ceremony and were represented as the team from India That was a high recalls PandeyAT WOD they admit they learnt discipline and poise Acharya says Every dancer there would practice stretch and warm up Some of us would be lying on the floor or playing cards or eating When the coordinator would tell us to warmup because we were to perform within minutes wed lazily sit up and stretch But once on stage we were different peopleWed love to see that firsthand we say So we clear the floor and have them perform what theyve taught us over the last two hours They are happy toAs the sequence draws to a close nearing a concluding clap we notice that they had scaled down the routine for us replacing with the clap what was actually meant to be a back saulto Hey we complain both offended and relieved You didnt teach us the tough stuffThe Big 13Pratik Gujare 21Specialty Flips and tricksMohan Pandey 23Specialty PoppingCharles Edwards 24Specialty Urban hiphopHardik Rawat 21Specialty ContemporarySunny Chatterjee 25Specialty Bboying and freestyleRitik Gupta 21Specialty ContortionistChandan Acharya 24Specialty BboyingAryan Sharma 22Specialty Popping urban newschoolAniket Sawant 23Specialty Crumping lockingPrem Bhawar 24Specialty Bboying urban hip hopRaja Das 21Specialty Bboying urban hip hopNeeraj Vishwakarma 22Specialty Flips and tricksShijin Ramesh 27Specialty House dance locking3540LThe WOD prize money that was allotted to each memberCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates