Suresh Mukund on The Kings win at World of Dance: We wanted India to shine through our performances

After Vernon left the team, Suresh formed Kings United India and won the bronze medal at World Hip Hop Dance Championship 2015 in San Diego. And now the team has walked away with the prize money of one million dollars at World of Dance.

Fresh from his big win, Suresh sat down for an exclusive chat with indianexpress.com about the global championship, challenges and featuring in Remo D’souza’s next Street Dancer.

Here are the excerpts from the conversation.

A movie made on your life or winning this championship, what’s a bigger achievement? 

Both are equally important to me. I was just 26 when a movie was made on my life, that’s a huge achievement. But this is different as we were representing our country on an international stage. And now with the win, we have found an identity across the globe. Though honestly, both experiences have changed my life.

Here’s your front row seat to the performance that won $1 Million! #WorldofDance pic.twitter.com/6UGkugNyWH

— World of Dance (@NBCWorldofDance) May 7, 2019

You entered the choreography space with ABCD 2 and were already a popular name, what made you go back to participating in a competition again?

We have always believed that we should never stop at anything. The passion to do something new and the ‘junoon’ to win has been always there. While I am saying that after this win, we will not participate in any other competition but you never know. Maybe in a few years, we will go on to do something else.

Given your winning stints, there must have been a lot of expectations from your team?

Whenever we have been in a competition, we have made a mark and so people do expect a lot. And trust me, on an international level, that’s not easy. But the love they have for us really motivates us. As for my team, they have stood by me for a long time. And they too have been hoping that their choreographer will one day bring them name, fame and money. I am happy that I have managed to do that finally.

One thing that really stood out in all your performances at the World of Dance stage was the usage of Indian songs and dance forms. In a time when people choose to go for international forms, you guys stuck to your roots.

I am very emotional when it comes to my country. We were there to represent our country. And we wanted India to shine through our performances. The audience should take back the cultural experiences with them. So we have always assured that we use Indian flavours in our act. From songs to dance steps, we have inculcated a lot of Bollywood and Tollywood elements.

At World Finals, this crew showed no mercy! ⚔️🦁 pic.twitter.com/IopdvjqLDU

— World of Dance (@NBCWorldofDance) May 6, 2019

You guys scored the perfect 100. What was the first reaction when your name was announced?

It was the final performance and the perfect 100 showed on the screen. The winner’s name was not announced and we were praying hard that it’s us. We wanted to create history and win with style. So, it was a historic and proud moment to end the competition with a perfect score, as there would be nothing above that. To win a show like this was an amazing feeling.

Today, the world has also come to know about Vasai-Nallasopara. How’s the response back home?

It’s been just a couple of days since the announcement so nothing to mention now. But people there love us a lot. We have been told that the place is identified because of Kings United and that’s a very special feeling. It’s heartwarming to get this amount of love from the place you’ve grown up and struggled.

Any plans of being part of Remo D’souza and Varun Dhawan’s Street Dancer?

Yes, I am choreographing one song in the film. Also, there’s a special sequence of The Kings’ team. But there’s still a lot of time for that.