Mumbai: Top dance group go to cops over prize money

The hoofers of Mira Roadbased dance group lsquoV Unbeatablersquo which made India proud after they won second season of lsquoAmericarsquos Got Talent The Championsrsquo AGT in February 2020 approached the Navghar police against group founder and choreographer Om Prakash Chauhan over nondistribution of the prize money amounting to 25000Meanwhile Chauhan said that the group of dancers had been instigated by the manager Mahesh More who he sacked recently ldquoThe entire issue has been messed up by the manager Mahesh More who has been instigating my dancers to go against me to file a police complaint and approach media to settle a score with merdquo Chauhan told middayIn the complaint a dancer Mohammad Areef alleged that whenever the group of 26 dancers approached Chauhan to seek their share of the prize money they collectively bagged after the show in the US he delayed the process ldquoNow he is threatening to file a complaint against us whenever we seek our share of the prize moneyrdquo Areef told middayOm Prakash ChauhanWhen contacted More said that the group of 26 dancers were handpicked from slum pockets of Mira Road Bhayandar Naigaon Vasai Nalasopara and Virar ldquoThese young boys mostly teenagers spent many years to shine the group lsquoV Unbeatablersquo and made India proud on an international platform by winning a reality show AGT in February 2020rdquo he saidldquoChauhan had told these dancers that he would invest the prize money by making a studio where they would keep on doing rehearsalsrdquo More said ldquoHowever at the time of making the studio Chauhan took Rs 25000 from each dancer Moreover the group conducted more than 250 shows in India and abroad and won a lot of prize money But a huge chunk of this was eaten by Chauhan and these hardworking and ambitious professional dancers were given peanutsrdquo More addedThe manager further told midday ldquoThe boys really worked hard for the group But he never paid them what they really deserved and himself amassed huge wealth by conducting massive domestic as well as international shows Now he has bought a flat in Mira Road worth R80 lakh and has booked another property in Virar whose cost could be around R70 lakhrdquo More allegedMeanwhile the complainant Areef told midday that he learnt to dance from YouTube and started to perform with a group of handpicked boys on streets where the audience would give them a round of applause ldquoThis encouraged me to rope in more boys and train them to showcase our exhilarating stuntsrdquo said Areef who claims that nearly 26 aggrieved dancers are supporting his causeAnush Harijan in his shanty right Akash Chauhan in his hutmentldquoAround 13 years ago I bumped into Chauhan who joined our group At that time he would earn hardly Rs 150 per day as he worked in an eyewear factory in Bhayandarrdquo Areef recalled ldquoHe has controlled the access of all the social media handles of lsquoV Unbeatablersquo for which we devoted over a decade to shape it well Now Chauhan has discarded all the original dancers in the group and has been working with another dance group based in Powairdquo he saidAccording to Areef they have not received a single penny from the prize money won at AGT ldquoDespite working hard for so many years the living conditions of all the dancers are still the same whereas Chauhan has been adding expensive properties to his name This reveals everythingrdquo Areef saidAnother dancer Anush Harijan who lives in a slum in Bhayandar said ldquoI was devoted to the group for the last 14 years OPsir Chauhan played with our emotions I worked really hard for the group but he did not give us the prize money we wonrdquoldquoWhenever I went to ask for my share OP sir would shout at me and the dissenting group members were permanently removed by him This instilled fear among us and deterred us from approaching him to ask for our share of the prize money We conducted various shows but he would give us peanutsrdquo he addedAnother dancer Akash Chauhan said ldquoNo one has instigated us to go against Chauhansir We all knew since the beginning that he had been eating a major share of our earnings as he was never transparent with us in terms of client deals He would only give us peanutsrdquoldquoAll the dancers were emotionally attached to the group We injured ourselves during practice and rehearsals but never thought we would have to face this day Chauhansir minted money out of our hard work but never bothered to give us our duesrdquo Akash addedResponding to the allegations Chauhan said ldquoHalf of the prize money was given to the choreographer who assisted us in training for AGT in 2019 we also had to give entertainment tax The rest of the money was invested in making the studiordquo2020Year dance group won in US