Dance India Dance

The selection process can be further broken down into two distinct stages: the Open Auditions and the second phase referred to as the Mega Auditions.

The Open Auditions take place in 5–6 major Indian cities and are typically open to anyone aged 15–30 at the time of their audition. The cities in which auditions are held vary from season to season but some, such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata have featured in almost every season. During this stage, dancers perform a brief routine (typically individually) before three masters. The masters will then make an on-the-spot decision as to whether the dancer demonstrated enough ability.[3] If the dancer impressed the masters with his/her dancing abilities, masters will award a Hat called Taqdeer Ki Topi (Hat of Destiny), moving them instantly one step forward in the competition.[4]

The second stage of the selection process, the Mega Auditions, is a several-day-long process in which the 100 hopefuls are tested for overall well-rounded dance, stamina, and their ability to perform under pressure. The dancers are put through a battery of rounds which test their ability to pick up various dance styles (typically some of the more well-represented genres that will later be prominent in the competition phase, such as Hip hop, Bollywood, Jazz, Bharat Natyam, Kathak, Mohiniyattam, Odissi and Contemporary). At the end of this process, only the top 36 competitors will be chosen. The top 36 are then again asked to give solo performances, after which 18 are chosen in the final auditions. Then, those top 18 get divided into 3 teams which are named according to the 3 masters of the show such as, Mudassar Ki Mandali, Marzi Ke Mastane and Mini Ke Masterblasters. Each team containing 6 dancers then competes in the show, learning new skills throughout the journey.[5]

Grand Master Mithun Chakraborty has been being the head judge of the series. When any contestant performs an extra-ordinary performance, Grand Master gives him/her a salute. It's called Grand Salute and it is the highest respect for any contestant here. Every season, 3 Indian choreographers (who are called Coaches) choreograph the contestants and judge them too with Grand Master. The first three seasons were judged by 3 regular judges Master Geeta Kapoor, Master Terence Lewis & Master Remo D'Souza with Grand Master. Then the judges were changed season by season from season 4. When any contestant performs a perfect act, the judges give him/her a special speech which is as respect for the contestant.

List of the judges:

First season was started on 30 January 2009. This season was hosted by Jay Bhanushali and Saumya Tandon. The grand finale was aired on 30 May 2009 and winner was Salman Yusuff Khan.

Masters:

• Remo D'Souza, his team was named Remo Ke Rangeelay.
• Terence Lewis, his team was named Terence Ki Toli.
• Geeta Kapoor, her team was named Geeta Ki Gang.

Top 18 Contestants:

Remo Ke Rangeelay:

• Salman Yusuff Khan
• Prince R. Gupta
• Khushboo Purohit
• Mangesh Mondal
• Bhavana Purohit
• Rakhee Sharma

Terence Ki Toli:

• Alisha Singh
• Jai Kumar Nair
• Mayuresh Wadkar
• Vrushali Chavan
• Kiran Sutavne
• Shubho Das

Geeta Ki Gang:

• Siddhesh Pai
• Sunita Gogoi
• Mandakini Jena
• Paulson
• Nonie Sachdeva
• Jigar Ghatge

Finalists:

1. Salman Yusuff Khan (from Remo Ke Rangeelay) was the winner.
2. Alisha Singh (from Terence Ki Toli) was 1st runner-up.
3. Siddhesh Pai (from Geeta Ki Gang) was 2nd runner-up.
4. Jai Kumar Nair (from Terence Ki Toli) was 3rd runner-up.

Second season was started on 18 December 2009. This season was also hosted by Jay Bhanushali and Saumya Tandon. The grand finale was aired on 23 April 2010 and winner was Shakti Mohan.[6]

Masters:

• Remo D'Souza, his team was named Remo Ke Rangeelay.
• Terence Lewis, his team was named Terence Ki Toli.
• Geeta Kapoor, her team was named Geeta Ki Gang.

Top 21 Contestants:

Remo Ke Rangeelay:

• Punit Pathak
• Bhavna Khanduja
• Nikkitasha Marwaha
• Shashank Dogra
• Meenu
• Naresh Mondal

Terence Ki Toli:

• Shakti Mohan
• Vandana
• Parvez
• Ameet
• Kunwar Amar
• Jack Gill
• Kruti Mahesh

Geeta Ki Gang:

• Dharmesh Yelande
• Amrita Mitra
• Binny Sharma
• Kishore Aman
• Shruti
• Tina Pradkar
• Altaf

Finalists:

1. Shakti Mohan (from Terence Ki Toli) was the winner.
2. Dharmesh Yelande (from Geeta Ki Gang) was 1st runner-up.
3. Punit Pathak (from Remo Ke Rangeelay) was 2nd runner-up.
4. Binny Sharma (from Geeta Ki Gang) was 3rd runner-up.

Third season was started on 24 December 2011. This season was also hosted by Jay Bhanushali and Saumya Tandon. The grand finale was aired on 21 April 2012 and winner was Rajasmita Kar.[7]

Masters:

• Remo D'Souza, his team was named Remo Ke Rangeelay.
• Terence Lewis, his team was named Terence Ki Toli.
• Geeta Kapoor, her team was named Geeta Ki Gang.

Top 20 Contestants:

Remo Ke Rangeelay:

• Sanam Johar
• Mohena Singh
• Vaibhav Ghuge
• Manju Sharma
• Hardik Raval

Terence Ki Toli:

• Pradeep Gurung
• Raghav Juyal
• Neerav Balvecha
• Sneha Gupta
• Piyali Saha
• Varoon
• Sneha Kapoor
• Choto Lohar

Geeta Ki Gang:

• Rajasmita Kar
• Abheek Banerjee
• Paul Marshal
• Urvashi Gandhi
• Ridhika
• Shafeer

Finalists:

1. Rajasmita Kar (from Geeta Ki Gang) was the winner.
2. Pradeep Gurung (from Terence Ki Toli) was 1st runner-up.
3. Raghav Juyal (from Terence Ki Toli) was 2nd runner-up.
4. Sanam Johar (from Remo Ke Rangeelay) was 3rd runner-up.
5. Mohena Singh (from Remo Ke Rangeelay) was 4th runner-up.

Fourth season was started on 26 October 2013. This season was hosted by Jay Bhanushali and Ishita Sharma. The grand finale was aired on 22 February 2014 and winner was Karan Dhar since no one was found worthy of the title.[8]

Masters:

• Mudassar Khan, his team was named Mudassar Ki Mandali.
• Shruti Merchant, her team was named Shruti Ke Shandar.
• Feroz Khan, his team was named Feroz Ki Fauj.
• Karan Dhar, his team was named Karan Ke Kekde.

Top 12 Contestants:

Mudassar Ki Mandali:

• Shyam Yadav
• Swarali Karulkar
• Dhiraj Bakshi

Shruti Ke Shandar:

• Manan Sachdeva
• Sumedh Mudgalkar
• Shrishti Jain
• Suniketa Bore

Feroz Ki Fauj:

• Biki Das
• Arundhati Garnaik
• Ashutosh Pawar
• Sapna Suryawanshi
• Chowenlai

Finalists:

1. Shyam Yadav (from Mudassar Ki Mandali) was the winner.
2. Manan Sachdeva (from Shruti Ke Shandar) was 1st runner-up.
3. Biki Das (from Firoz Ki Fauj) was 2nd runner-up.
4. Sumedh Mudgalkar (from Shruti Ke Shandar) was 3rd runner-up.

Fifth season was started on 27 June 2015. This season was hosted by Jay Bhanushali. The grand finale was aired on 10 October 2015 and winner was Proneeta Swargiary.[9]

Masters:

• Mudassar Khan, his team was named Mudassar Ki Mandali.
• Punit Pathak, his team was named Punit Ke Panthers.
• Gaiti Siddiqui, her team was named Gaiti Ke Gangsters.

Top 11 Contestants:

Mudassar Ki Mandali:

• Kaushik Mandal
• Saddam Hussain Sheikh
• Anuradha Iyengar
• Vicky Alhat

Punit Ke Panthers:

• Proneeta Swargiary
• Ashish Vashistha
• Sally Sheikh
• Pankaj Thapa

Gaiti Ke Gangsters:

• Nirmal Tamang
• Sahil Adanaya
• Anila Rajan

Finalists:

1. Proneeta Swargiary (from Punit Ke Panthers) was the winner.
2. Nirmal Tamang (from Gaiti Ke Gangsters) was 1st runner-up.
3. Sahil Adanaya (from Gaiti Ke Gangsters) was 2nd runner-up.
4. Kaushik Mandal (from Mudassar Ki Mandali) was 3rd runner-up.
5. Ashish Vashistha (from Punit Ke Panthers) was 4th runner-up.

Sixth season is being aired from 4 November 2017. This season is being hosted by Amruta Khanvilkar and Sahil Khattar.[10]

Masters:

• Mudassar Khan, his team is named Mudassar Ki Mandali.
• Marzi Pestonji, his team is named Marzi Ke Mastane.
• Mini Pradhan, her team is named Mini Ke Masterblasters.

Top Contestants:

Mudassar Ki Mandali:

• Shivam Wankhede (Jalgaon)
• Paramdeep Singh (Eliminated)
• Alphons Chetty (Eliminated)
• Daphisha Kharbani (Eliminated)
• Ria Chatterjee (Eliminated)
• Deepak (Eliminated)

Marzi Ke Mastane:

• Sachin Sharma (Faridabad)
• Kalpita Kachroo (Eliminated)
• Punyakar Upadhyay (Eliminated)
• Shweta Warrier (Eliminated)
• Shweta Sharda (Eliminated)
• Rahul Burman (Eliminated)

Mini Ke Masterblasters:

• Sanket Gaonkar (Ankola)
• Piyush Gurbhele (Nagpur)
• Nainika Anasuru (Jharsuguda) (Odisha) (Wildcard Entry)
• Sujan Marpa (Eliminated)
• Deepak Hulsure (Wildcard Entry) (Eliminated)
• Sonal Vichare (Eliminated)
• Mitesh Roy (Eliminated)
• Sarang Roy (Eliminated)

Top 5 Finalists:

• Sanket Gaonkar (Ankola)
• Piyush Gurbhele (Nagpur)
• Nainika Anasuru (Jharsuguda) (Odisha) (Wildcard Entry)
• Sachin Sharma (Faridabad)
• Shivam Wankhede (Jalgaon)

Sanket Gaonkar (from Mini Ke Masterblasters) is the winner

Sachin Sharma (from Marzi Ke Mastane) is the first runner up

Piyush Gurbhele (from Mini Ke Masterblasters) is the second runner up

Nainika Anasuru (from Mini Ke Masterblasters) is the third runner up

Shivam Wankhede (from Mudassar Ki Mandali) is fourth runner up

Season 7 - Battle of the Champions being aired from 22 June 2019. This season is being hosted by Karan Wahi.

• Kareena Kapoor Khan
• Bosco Martis
• Raftaar
• Karishma Kapoor - Guest Judge for Episodes 7,8,19 & 20
• Malaika Arora - Guest Judge for Episodes 11 and 12

• Paul Marshal (West Ke Singhams)

Pranshu & Kuldeep (Lyrical) (2nd Runner-Up)
Akshay Pal (Popping) (4th Runner-Up)
Saakshi & Shambhavi (Freestyle) (Eliminated on 11 August 2019)
Akash & Suraj (Freestyle) (Eliminated on 18 August 2018)
Kings Squad (Hip-Hop) (Eliminated on 1 September 2019)
Mansi Dhruv (Bollywood) (Eliminated on 22 September 2019)

• Palden Lama Mawroh/Nirmal Tamang (East Ke Tigers)

Mukul Gain (Contemporary) (3rd Runner-Up)
Nrutya Naivedya (Odissi) (Eliminated on 7 July 2019)
Pop & Flex (Popping) (Eliminated on 14 July 2019)
M.D. Hasan (B-Boying) (Eliminated on 28 July 2019)
Richika Sinha (Contemporary) (Eliminated on 8 September 2019)

• Bhawna Khanduja (North Ke Nawabs)

Unreal Crew (Tuttmation - Tutting and Animation) (Winner)
Malka Praveen (Hip-Hop and Freestyle) (Eliminated on 21 July 2019)
Hardik Rawat (Contemporary and Hip-Hop) (Withdrew Due to Injury on 28 July 2019)
N-House Crew (Freestyle) (Eliminated on 22 September 2019)

• Sneha Kapoor (South Ke Thalaiwa)

I Am Hip-Hop (Hip-Hop) (Runner-Up)
Ramya & Bhaskar (Freestyle) (Eliminated on 7 July 2019)
Loyala Dream Team (Hip-Hop and Urban Choreography) (Eliminated on 14 July 2019)
Anil & Tejas (Freestyle) (Eliminated on 21 July 2019)
The Soul Queens (Bollywood and Hip-Hop) (Eliminated on 25 August 2019)

The first season of DID L'il Masters was judged by Farah Khan and Sandip Soparrkar. The four skippers and their teams were: Dharmesh ke Dhinchak, Jai ke Jhatang-Fatang, Vrushali ke Dhum-Dhadake and Amrita ke Aflatoon. Jeetumoni Kalita from Dharmesh ke Dhinchak was declared winner of the first season of Dance India Dance L'il Masters. Atul Banmoria was the 1st runner-up and Vaishnavi Patil was the 2nd runner-up, Sonik Chauhan from Delhi got the best performer award from Finalist and Tiyash Saha (Wild Card Entry) from Kolkata (Neerav ke Ninjas) got the 5th position and most entertaining participant of the Season, Ritika and Pallavi got 6th position.

DID L'il Masters 2 was judged by Master Geeta and Master Marzi. The four skippers and their teams were Prince ke Paltan, Raghav ke Rockstars, Kruti ke Krackers and Neerav ke Ninjas. 5 contestants, Jeet, Om, Faisal, Rohan and Saumya entered the grand finale. Faisal Khan, from Prince ke Paltan, was declared as the winner of the second season.[11][12] Om Chetry, Rohan Parkale and Saumya Rai came second, third and fourth respectively.

The third season began broadcasting on 1 March 2014.[13][14] Geeta Kapoor, Ahmad Khan, and Mudassar Khan were judges, along with Sanam Johar, Raghav Crockroaz Juyal/ Omkar Shinde, Rahul Shetty and Paul Marshal Cardoz and Swarali Karulkar, as skippers.[15][16][17][18] The teams were Raghav/Omkar ke Rockstar, Sanam ke Superheroes, Rahul and Paul ke Rapchik Punters and Swarali ke Sparklers. Teriya Magar from Nepal was declared the winner,[19] and Anushka Chetry became the 1st runner-up. Sadhwin Shetty was the 2nd runner-up. Hardik Ruparel was declared the 3rd runner-up

DID Li'l Masters returned with its 4th season after 4 years. It began broadcasting on 3 March 2018. Marzi Pestonji, Chitrangnda Singh and Siddharth Anand are the judges along with Vaishnavi Patil, Jitumoni Kalita, Tanay Malhara and Bir Radha Sherpa as the skippers. The teams are Vaishnavi Ke Veer, Jitumoni ke Janbaaz, Tanay ke Tigers and Bir ke Baahubali. Jiya Thakur from Vaishnavi ke Veer wins the title. Urva Bhavsar from Jitumoni ke Janbaaz is the first runner up followed by Tamman Gamnu from Bir ke Baahubali. The season was hosted by Jay Bhanushali and Vighnesh Pande.

Dance India Dance L'il Masters North America Edition - Auditions were conducted in April 2014 with over 10,000 contestants auditioning from all across the US, Canada and Europe. Out of them 10 contestants were chosen and were flown to Mumbai, India to compete in the finals. The winner was Akhil and the second winner was Avantika Vandanapu.

The shows consisted of 12 finalist couples. The Grand Finale was scheduled for filming 7 April 2011 at the Andheri Sports Complex for broadcast on 9 April 2011.[20] Amit and Falon were voted the winners of the season.

Mithu Chowdhury from Kolkata was declared the winner of Dance India Dance Super Moms 2013 Season, and Cecille Rodrigues from Goa was the 1st runner-up, and Shraddha Shah Raj from Surat was the 2nd runner-up.[21]

The second season started in March 2015.[22] Harpreet Khatri who hails from Mumbai was announced the winner of Dance India Dance Super Moms Season 2 in 2015. Season 2 was anchored by popular TV actor Karan Wahi. Season 2 was judged by Geeta Kapoor, Govinda, and Terence Lewis.

Dance Ke Superstars featured contestants from the first two seasons to compete against each other. The show was judged by choreographers Remo D'Souza and Shiamak Davar, and featured a guest judge every week. Team Jalwa, the Season 2 DID contestants, won the series.

Dance ke Superkids- Battle of the Baaps! featured contestants from the first two seasons of DID L'iL Masters. It was judged by Geeta Kapoor, Farah Khan and Marzi Pestonji and hosted by Jay Bhanushali and Shreya Acharya.[23][24] Team Yahoo, also known as DID L'il Masters Season 2, was led by Captain Raghav Juyal and choreographers: Kruti Mahesh and Prince Gupta. They won the competition with Faisal Khan, Soumya Rai, Rohan Parkale, Om Chetri, Jeet Das, Shalini Moitra and Tanay Malhara dancing their way to victory. Team Wakao, also known as DID L'il Masters Season 1, was led by Captain Dharmesh Yelande and choreographers: Mayuresh Vadkar and Vrushali Chavan; with dancing contestants: Jeetumoni Kalita, Vatsal Vithlani, Ruturaj Mahalim, Vaishnavi Patil, Atul Banmoria, Anurag Sarmah and Khyati Patel. The team fell just short of victory but thoroughly celebrated their time on the show all the same.

DID Dance Ka Tashan featured contestants from Dance India Dance Super Moms competing against contestants from Dance India Dance L'il Masters 2. The show aired in November 2013 and was judged by choreographer Ahmed Khan and Geeta Kapoor and hosted by TV actor Rithvik Dhanjani and India's Best Dramebaaz, Nihar. The show was won by Team Todu, the DID L'il Masters Season 2 contestants, Faisal, Soumya, Rohan, Om, Shalini, Deep, Tanay, Jeet and Shreya.