While you guys are busy watching political rallies and debates on television, Shantanu Maheshwari is out there making the country proud. Shantanu and his dance troupe, Desi Hoppers, are one of the contestants in World Of Dance, a Hollywood dance reality show that has Jennifer Lopez as one of the judges. The dance diva and judge even tweeted about the dance group saying, "Love me some #desihoppers!! #indiaisinthehouse" Now that is quite an achievement. We spoke to Shantanu for an exclusive chat about the show, his plans after the show and a lot more. The artist is a very sweet person to talk to who is all praise about his team.

He makes it a point to stress on the fact that he is just representing his dance group and not taking credit for their success. Shantanu feels it's unfair to take credit and that it's his responsibility as a spokesperson of the group to ensure everyone gets equal credits for the performances. Budding dance troupes, you're definitely going to have to read this because he has spoken about how international dancers are different from us and all they do is focus on one thing that we don't. We wish Desi Hoppers all the best and hope to see them win!

Here are excerpts from our chat.

Jennifer Lopez tweeted about you!

Actually she tweeted about the crew but yeah it's quite an achievement. It was a proud moment for us.

How did your journey in World Of Dance begin?

Desi Hoppers had won the World Dance Championship of 2015 and the first time World Of Dance happened, we participated and won gold for the country. In 2017 again, we were called for a showcase event for the show and around that time, the first season of the show was going on. We were called to audition for the second season after that and that's how it began. We sent our performance video and it was a long process but we were the highest scorers in our division with 96 marks.

How different is World Of Dance from Indian reality shows?

The pattern remains the same but World Of Dance is more advanced, since dancers from all over the world. They have planned it really well. Though sometimes, language becomes a barrier, not for us but a lot of other participants from different countries.

The Desi Hoppers being goofy during a performance!

What's your favourite team?

Desi Hoppers is my favourite team. (laughs) But yeah there is this other team called The Ruggeds, we get along well with them. They are a B-Boying crew and their journey is quite inspiring.

A lot of dance crews in India don't really make it this big. What's your plan for these budding dancers from the country?

Our whole purpose to participate in international reality shows was to prove to the world that India has immense talent. It's not that we are content in what we have but we have that passion, a sense of competition and skills to make it to the top. We are trying to make a pathway for all the budding dancers. Next time international reality shows think of starting a competition with dancers across the world, they will definitely think of India, too.

Adding about what Indian dancers lack...

All of us at Desi Hoppers, we feel and have experienced this after going to US that budding Indian dancers lack in fitness and training as compared to the international dancers. They really take it as a sport and their dancers are also athletes. We think of dance as a hobby. To make the world take Indian dancers seriously, artists here will also have to take the art seriously. Be fit and be disciplined.

And another one!

What are your plans if you win World Of Dance?

We want to open an academy, share our experiences and what we learned to train budding dancers. We want more Indian crews and dancers to participate in international shows.

Have you considered being a part of a Bollywood or a Hollywood film based on dance?

It depends on the character that I'm given. Won't do it just because I'm getting a Bollywood film offered. I won't do any random film. It needs to be challenging for me also. The actor in me wakes up and wants to be given that challenge. Desi Hoppers would love to do music videos with different artists rather than being a part of a film.

How do you manage to bring something different to the table every time as artists?

All the credit goes our dance director, Palki Malhotra. In a lot of Indian reality shows, a lot of moves are copied from other shows or videos. But when you are participating on an international stage, you do not have the liberty to do that. You need to be original. So it takes a lot of time, effort, creativity and research to make something new and mind-blowing. You need to make the 1-2 minutes of your performance worth watching.

What do you think Indian reality shows can change about them?

So it takes a lot of research to decide that. The Indian audience is very different compared to the ones in US. Our top-rated show is Naagin. Game Of Thrones is not the most watched shows even though they air it on TV. Our market is different. We need to make formats and shows that is acceptable to the Indian audience. So then I don't know how the format of Indian reality shows can change.

P.S. Shantanu also told us that his favourite performance of the season is the one that will air this weekend on Zee Cafe, 9pm onward. Also, do post your thoughts about the Desi Hoppers' performances and this chat on the comments below and stay tuned with us for more.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2018 10:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).