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Journalism of Courage
From choreographing for K-pop boy band BTS to collaborating with American R&B singer Usher, Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and India’s Anil Kapoor, the boys from Norway who call themselves The Quick Style took the internet by storm in 2022. The Norwegian dance troupe was formed in 2006 by two brothers from Pakistan, Bilal and Suleman Malik, along with Nasir Sirikhan in Oslo.
It was called Quick Crew back then and they have even won Norske Talenter, a Norwegian version of America’s Got Talent in 2009. However, the year 2022 saw them explode as their performance at a wedding catapulted them into international fame as they made the whole world dance to their steps to songs like ‘Kala Chashma’, ‘Chura Ke Dil Mera’ and ‘Tumse Milke Dil Ka’.
In a chat with The Indian Express, founder member of the group, Bilal Malik, said it is hard to explain why they went so massively viral this year.
“We are a group which is very diverse with many different nationalities. That concept of dancing to culturally different types of music and seeing the world dance to our dance steps which was also inspired by Hindi music and Indian dance style, it made people happy,” Bilal said.
Talking about the group’s origins, Bilal said they started with just three people. “Our name that time was Quick Crew. Our goal was to be one of the best in what we do. We had the opportunity to learn from American, Japanese and Korean dancers. We also got to work in different industries. When we were young, our goal was to learn as much as we can. That’s how the name got developed, Quick Style Studio.”
Bilal said they now have more than 300 members in their dance troupe who are like their family members. At any moment, they choose 10 to 14 of the best dancers for their videos. They have up to 10 main members, he said.
Talking about K-pop band BTS, with whom they have collaborated with on three songs, Bilal shared that it was before they became really famous. In 2016, they choreographed and even video-graphed their song called ‘Save Me’ for which they flew down to Norway. They have done four to five songs for BTS.
Talking about their experience of meeting Anil Kapoor, Bilal said, “We were lucky that our manager got in touch with someone from his team and he said he wanted to meet us”.
Their collaboration was an impromptu one and Bilal said he was really humble and gave them a lot of compliments. When they asked him to do a freestyle shoot, Anil Kapoor was game and they had a lot of fun.
On meeting American R&B singer Usher, Bilal said he was due to perform in Abu Dhabi and needed dancers. They met him three hours before the performance and they rehearsed together. “He trusted our style and learnt our movement on his songs. It was inspiring and super humbling to see such an acclaimed artist trust us in what we do,” Bilal shared.
Before the show, we did a little collaboration for Instagram as Usher was also made to dance on ‘Kala Chashma’ and it was done in one shot, he said.
The Quick Style appeared on Pakistan Coke Studio for many seasons before it went viral. Coke Studio Pakistan has done a tremendous job and “our bond with them is very natural and has been successful so far”, Bilal said. “It’s about the whole world and not only Pakistan. It’s about showing and connecting cultures,” he added.
Asked how big a market India is for them, Bilal said, “We can feel the power of India through our social media. We can feel the love and energy. When I hear India, I hear drums and see colours.”
Bilal said they would be coming to India in 2023 and all the guys are very excited about it. “When you come to India, only big things happen as it has one of the biggest entertainment industries. People of India are ready to accept us with open arms as Anil Kapoor showed us,” Bilal shared.
“Our mission at the moment is to show the world how different nationalities and cultures can connect with each other and become international. To show the world how you can be different and still be together and learn from each other,” he signed off.
