'Reality show was a shortcut that we took'

In their own quirky fusion of hip-hop with bhangra, dance group ‘Urban Singh Crew’ has created a niche for themselves.

As one of the top eight finalists of the dance reality show ‘Dance Plus 2’, the crew has captivated the audience with its groundbreaking coordination and innovative moves.

“People have always seen sardars doing bhangra, but they might have never seen a sardar dancing hip-hop to bhangra music. We wanted to work on something that the masses can relate to,” says Sahaj Singh, founder and choreographer, ‘Urban Singh Crew’.

Formed under Urban Dance Centre (UDC) in November last year, ‘Urban Singh Crew’ is the brainchild of Singh and Jasveen Gulati, who wanted to present a unique dance form which could win acclaim internationally.

“Through hiphop and bhangra, we wanted to bring our community forward. The scope of this dance form goes abroad to our communities residing in the UK, the USA and Canada,” says Sahaj.

UDC has previously choreographed numerous events in the Punjabi industry, including PTC Film Awards, music awards, grand finales of reality shows, and for celebrities like Diljit Dosanjh, Gippy Grewal, Vivek Oberoi and Neha Kakkar.

“Our first big stint was offered to us by CEO of PTC. We had no godfather in the industry or any other contact who could help us through such events,” he adds.

They also run various dance academies where they give workshops and training to aspiring dancers. But coordinating with a dance group and flourishing in the competitive industry has been a struggle for Sahaj.

“We started in 2013 and the journey has not been easy till now. Getting crew members together all the time is very difficult. Initially, we’ve worked for free for a lot of events and didn’t have enough manpower. People are willing to work more for money and less for passion,” he says.

Then how did ‘Dance Plus 2’ happen? “The group was never formed for it. Reality show was a shortcut that we took to reach where we want to,” says Sahaj adding that the show has helped them get followers from all over the world.

He agrees that presently, platforms for dance groups are very less. In a competitive market where both small-scale and large-scale groups are coming up, creating platforms for oneself is very important.

“We try being unique with our ideas in this dance form. We want to entertain people in the best possible way and be an established name in the industry.”