Exclusive!We have been living on rent, now I want to buy my own house in Nagpur: Dance Deewane 3 winner Piyush Gurbhele

Hard work always pays off and who better than Piyush Gurbhele to tell you that. Piyush and his choreographer Rupesh Soni won the Dance Deewane 3 trophy after weeks of intense competition. We spoke to the duo about their win, future plans and more. Excerpts…

Piyush: Just before the winner was announced, I was very quiet and nervous while the others were relaxed. They were even joking about how tense I was, but all that I could think about at that point was to win the show. When they announced my name as the winner, I couldn’t believe it; I was too stunned to react initially. But I cried and screamed in happiness. It was such a great feeling to hold that trophy.

Rupesh: I felt that all our hard work paid off. When I agreed to do the show, I didn’t think about winning. All I thought about was performing to the best of my ability because thinking about winning takes away the focus from performing.

Rupesh: Everyone enters the show to win. But when I was performing with Piyush, we made sure to give something different to our audiences. We didn’t have much space to experiment each time, but towards the end, whenever we got a lot more liberty, we tried something new. People accepted that and enjoyed it, too. That’s when we felt that we could win the show.

Piyush: The show started in February this year and I was performing solo in all the acts at that time. I showed my versatility in almost all the acts I did. After that, teams were created along with a choreographer and even then we tried showing different styles and moods of dance. I think that is what set us apart and helped us win the audience's heart. I always kept variations in my graph, so that no one can say that I did only one style all the time. I didn’t want my performances to look the same.

Piyush: He always used to take my autograph after I would give a good performance. When we were announced as winners, I hugged Dharmesh sir and he said that I have done well throughout. And whenever he was around, he would always motivate me; I felt so positive around him. After every act, he used to tell me things that would help me do better in my next performance. I will miss him and the way he used to appreciate our performances.

My father and brother always supported me when I showed an interest in dance. My mother was happy about my passion for dance, but she felt that I should study hard and get a good job. My mom was not totally against it, but she didn’t like it when I would go for my dance classes and spend all my time dancing. I couldn’t even pay for my dance classes, so my sir used to train me for free. He has been teaching me since the past 12 years and has even helped me many times by giving me money for shoes and travel. He has been my biggest support.

Piyush: Yes, I have tried my luck in many dance reality shows. I have been dancing since I was a kid, but started my professional training when I was in the 7th grade. There has been a lot of struggle while giving auditions for dance reality shows. I have slept on Mumbai’s streets while waiting in the queue for auditions. It has not been easy, but I was getting a lot of experience from all those auditions. There were times when I would feel low because nothing was happening. I felt that maybe I should just leave dancing and focus on my studies. But dancing is in my blood, so when I would wake up the next morning, that thought would go away and I used would again start focussing on my dancing skills.

Piyush: We have been living in a rented house for a while now and I want to buy my own house in Nagpur. That is a long cherished dream. Initially, coming from Nagpur to Mumbai for auditions was difficult and I would often wonder how I would compete with all the talented people in Mumbai. But then I realised that I have talent, so I shouldn’t feel scared. I kept trying my luck here and now that I have made my place, I feel so happy. I will keep coming to Mumbai for work and whatever opportunities come my way, but for now, I want to go home, fulfil my dream and eat homemade food.