Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 7, 2015)


A couple of months ago, in the ABCD sequel, Varun Dhawan as Suresh and his team of dancers lost the international dance competition in Las Vegas because of one mistake but won everyone's hearts with their don't-give-up grit. Now, Mirror has learnt that the actor who has only recently returned to Mumbai after a fortnight's shoot in Morocco for his brother, Rohit Dhawan's action thriller, Dishoom, has quietly lent his support to the Fictitious Kings United Dance Group, which inspired his last hit, to represent India in the World Hip Hop Championship 2015 which is currently on in San Diego, California. The group led by Suresh Mukund and Vernon Monteiro, which had caught the eye after wining the reality show, India's Got Talent, has searched the semi-finals and are among the top three teams from the 16 short-listed. They are competing against 80 other dance troupes from all over the world.

Confirming the news Suresh told Mirror from San Diego, "Yes, Varun helped us get a sponsor and even paid some money from his pocket so we could come here. While we were shooting for ABCD 2, I had confided in Varun that despite our new-found fame, it was difficult for us to arrange funds and participate in the competition. We never looked at Varun as a superstar, he's like a brother and we've often shared secrets with each other. He promised to help us and he has."

The dance group had earlier made it to the finals in the same competition in 2012 but didn't win. This time they have worked even harder and hope to bring the trophy home.

"After our performance in the qualifiers, we got a standing ovation from the entire crowd even though we performed mostly to Bollywood and Tollywood songs. It was a big risk on such a stage but we wanted to stand out from the rest," says Suresh who was the muse for Varun's character.