THE KINGS ARE ALRIGHT

Choreographer Suresh Mukund and his energetic dancers have, by now, made a habit of wowing the world with their inimitable moves. In 2012, Kings United made it to the finals of the World Hip Hop Championships which inspired Remo D’Souza to make ABCD2, a film about their terpsichorean journey from Nalasopara, a suburb in Mumbai, to San Diego, US.

In 2015, they won bronze in the same competition. Now Mukund and his 15 dancers, aged between 18 and 27 years, are competing as The Kings in the American TV show World of Dance. With just their first routine, they won over Jennifer Lopez, one of the show’s three judges. Mukund is positive that the Indian dance scene will flourish more as the show progresses.

Only the second Indian group to be invited to the show, The Kings went to Los Angeles as the ‘underdogs’. “Nobody knew us or talked to us,” says Mukund who has choreographed for ABCD2. “They thought we are some small team from India, so they didn’t take us seriously.” Hence, Mukund and the boys, who won India’s Got Talent in 2011, largely kept to themselves. The response changed with the electric performance to A.R. Rahman’s ‘Dhakka Laga Bukka’ from the Bollywood film Yuva. “The groups were scared of us,” said Mukund.

The Kings’ fusion of Bollywood dance and hip-hop combined with awe-inspiring acrobatics set to Indian film music with remixed beats is the spectacle that television wants. Their biggest asset, feels Mukund, is the trust between the members, eight of whom have been dancing together for a decade. “There’s a bond and connection between all dancers,” he says. “The experience helps us a lot. We know what all it takes to impress judges and what works with the audience too.” Clearly, it’s working for the Americans as well.