The choreographer Prince Gupta’s love of dancing has helped him become a household figure. He spoke to us on International Dancing Day about how he fell in love with dance and more. “As a youngster, I attended a dance class in my hometown Vadodara, so that mujhe jyaada time padhna na pade!” Prince says when asked about his love for dancing. But after I got into it, I started competing in district and state dance contests. I received a lot of positive feedback, and there has been no turning back since I was chosen at the DID (season one) auditions.
“On the programme, when I tried locking and popping, many people told me to adhere to the tried-and-true forms and not risk being eliminated from the competition,” says Prince, who is credited with introducing the locking and popping technique to India. But I wanted to do something new to make my performances stand out, and happily, it paid off.”
“It’s been a fantastic trip,” Prince says of his job as a choreographer in Bollywood, “and I’ve gotten to work with the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Varun Dhawan, and other huge actors.” I’ve enjoyed working with Malhar Thakar and Hitu Kanodia in the Gujarati film business. I’ve also choreographed 18 music videos in the previous four months, and I’m in a terrific place professionally. Some people advised me not to work on Gujarati projects because I choreograph for Bollywood films. However, I wish to help the Gujarati film industry, and I will never quit choreographing for Gujarati movies.
“I had a lot of great ventures set up from March to May in 2020 but they were cancelled/postponed,” Prince says of how the shutdown ruined his plans. It was difficult at first, but I gradually realized that everyone was dealing with the same problems, so being upset was pointless. I opted to be optimistic, and things are looking up again.”
