April 06, 2026 07:23 am (IST)
Wanted to earn respect, lucky to have won WOD Championship: Desi Hoppers
Kolkata, Sept 4 (IBNS) Fresh from winning the prestigious World Of Dance Championship, Desi Hoppers, a Mumbai based hip-hop dance crew, visited Kolkata along with the trophies they had won, on Friday.
The team comprising of Shantanu Maheswari, Macedon De’Mello, Nimit Kotian, Rohan Vyas, Viraj Pandhya, Subhash Naidu and Niraj Lama attended a press conference here and shared their experiences.
The team had won the international dance battle, edging past another 36 participating groups from 14 countries on August 15, coinciding with India’s Independence Day.
They also took home the ‘Crowd’s Favorite’ award on account of being the most cheered team on the stage.
Speaking on behalf of the tam, city-boy Shantanu Maheswari said, “We all wanted to earn respect there. We are lucky to have won. Everyone appreciated our moves.”
On being asked the key ingredient for their success, Maheswari replied, “The key is to stay original. We danced to Jumme ki Raat and Choli ke Peeche. Though the form was hip-hop we did infuse Bollywood moves, something the audience cheered for.”
The group also maintained that the journey was certainly not a cake-walk and it did come after a lot of struggle.
Recollecting their experience, Nimit Kotian said, “We have certainly come a long way, it wasn’t easy though. (We) had to cross a lot of obstacles. Happy where we stand today.”
The group also spoke about the fond memories they had. Shantanu said, “The moment we won, we were all in tears, could hardly believe the results.”
(Reporting By Sudipto Maity)
The team had won the international dance battle, edging past another 36 participating groups from 14 countries on August 15, coinciding with India’s Independence Day.
They also took home the ‘Crowd’s Favorite’ award on account of being the most cheered team on the stage.
Speaking on behalf of the tam, city-boy Shantanu Maheswari said, “We all wanted to earn respect there. We are lucky to have won. Everyone appreciated our moves.”
On being asked the key ingredient for their success, Maheswari replied, “The key is to stay original. We danced to Jumme ki Raat and Choli ke Peeche. Though the form was hip-hop we did infuse Bollywood moves, something the audience cheered for.”
The group also maintained that the journey was certainly not a cake-walk and it did come after a lot of struggle.
Recollecting their experience, Nimit Kotian said, “We have certainly come a long way, it wasn’t easy though. (We) had to cross a lot of obstacles. Happy where we stand today.”
The group also spoke about the fond memories they had. Shantanu said, “The moment we won, we were all in tears, could hardly believe the results.”
(Reporting By Sudipto Maity)
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
First look out! Ahaan Panday’s intense avatar in Ali Abbas Zafar’s YRF film sparks buzz
Fri, Apr 03 2026
'Ajay Sanyal has eyes on ISI': R. Madhavan sneaks into packed Dhurandhar 2 screening
Fri, Apr 03 2026
‘Deeply humbling experience’: Ranbir Kapoor on playing Lord Rama in Ramayana; first look out
Thu, Apr 02 2026
King: Shah Rukh Khan’s Dubai shoot cancelled amid Iran war
Mon, Mar 30 2026
‘Modi govt built Ram Mandir, don’t need us for votes’: Aditya Dhar on ‘propaganda’ row over Dhurandhar 2
Sat, Mar 28 2026
I wasn't aware, says Danish Pandor on Yami Gautam’s impactful cameo in Dhurandhar 2
Sat, Mar 28 2026
Raj Vasudeva–Adil Hussain film Mercy set for April 24 release; first glimpse out with Dhurandhar 2
Fri, Mar 27 2026
