Bollywood takes to NYU

Dillagi, NYU's Bollywood-Hindi Film Dance team, was founded in the fall of 2010 by Mohit Chhatpar. Dillagi is a coed dance team that regularly performs in the city and has even traveled for competitions. The team performed at Hofstra University earlier this year.

Next weekend, Dillagi will be traveling to Atlanta for a show called A-Town Showdown. This will be the first time the group travels outside the New York region for its biggest competition since the club was created.

"People will be competing with dance teams from all over the country," LSP freshman and Dillagi member Shaaranya Pillai said. "These types of national competitions are how you make your reputation and a name for yourself as a college Bollywood team."

In preparation for the event, the group has choreographed routines that incorporate Ghangra, another dance genre. Because the music is in another language, Dillagi has amplified Ghangra with more classical Hindi music and contemporary dance moves.

"Most of the time we take our music straight from Bollywood movies," Pillai said of the Dillagi performances. "Even though I was taught classically, I love doing other genres. In our upcoming competition, we're going to have a Bollywood round and a fusion round."

This past Sunday, Dillagi presented an impressive showcase of Bollywood and Bhangra dance talent at Eisner and Lubin Hall in the Kimmel Center for Student Life. There were three performances from Bollywood dance teams: St. John Fisher's RAAZ, Rutgers' Ehsaas and NYU's Dillagi. There was also one Bhangra performance from Mount Holyoke's Raunak Bhangra. All four groups performed enthusiastic routines set to compilations of colorful music.

Although most of Sunday's action circled around these performances, the highlight of the afternoon was a highly anticipated appearance made by Imran Khan, one of Bollywood's preeminent actors and celebrities. Fresh off a plane from Dubai, Khan was in town for less than 24 hours promoting his new film, "Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu," but suspended his hectic schedule of New York appearances to attend the festival.

In an interview with the event's master of ceremonies Anil Daibee, Khan talked about a variety of topics, from his favorite New York City pizza place and his workout regimen to his upcoming film, which comes out in February. The congenial Khan, who was surrounded by a small flock of paparazzi and welcomed by several hundred adoring fans, gave the event a spirited and star-studded appeal.