Lil’ Chulbul Pandey makes a trip to LA.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Eight year-old dancing superstar Akshat Singh was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday afternoon, marking his first appearance and trip to the US.
The third-grader wunderkind became famous around the world when he performed a dance routine set to popular Salman Khan songs – notably, “Munni Badnaam Hui” from Dabangg and “Jalwa” from Wanted – during the preliminary rounds of “India’s Got Talent” earlier this month.
During the dance, Singh was even dressed up as Salman’s Khan’s character from the film Dabangg, Chulbul Pandey, and danced with judge Malaika Arora Khan, who is Salman’s sister-in-law and is the featured item girl in “Munni Badnaam Hui.”
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The clip of Singh dancing – and the shock of judges Khan, Kirron Kher, and Karan Johar to the youngster’s incredible flexibility and energy – became anovernight viral sensation, spreading across the internet like wildfire and gaining enough notice for Singh to be invited to Los Angeles as a guest on Ellen’s talk show.
Singh even rode onto the show’s stage on a toy motorcycle, which had his name on the back of it, before launching into one of his typically exuberant dance routines.
“Namaste, mera naam Ellen hai (“Hello, my name is Ellen”), said the host as she greeted Singh after he performed a dance for the entire audience that had people on their feet and cheering loudly. Singh had to perform to different music than the mix he danced to on India’s Got Talent because Ellen’s producers could not get permission to play the original songs.
The trip to LA is Singh’s first journey outside of India. The boy comes from relatively meager means: his father operates a tea leaf business in Kolkata, where the family lives and where Singh attends school. He is a very strong student, currently attending class on a scholarship, but has said that his free time is almost entirely devoted to Sallu bhai.
When asked if he thinks he’ll win India’s Got Talent, Singh implied that winning wasn’t really his top priority, saying I’ve gone to India’s Got Talent to show that ‘motus’ [chubby people] can also dance!” Singh’s full appearance on Ellen’s show can be viewed below:
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com