Local 'account and finance' student secures top spot in the Battle for Bollywood

Nilesh Chhatwani, a Gibraltarian students at the London School of Economics, is over the moon at having won the Battle of Bollywood II. A student of Accounting and Finance he has found his dance moves in one of the biggest student dance competitions in the UK with 13 different universities participating and where his university LSE was picked as the wild card for this year. And it truly paid off. The judges included Terence Lewis, Shruti Shah, Signature (Britain's Got Talent Finalists a couple of years ago) and Juggy D.

“Who would have known that a wild cards we would end up in 1st place?” he said from London. The show was held at Sadler's Wells.  The 18 strong LSE team had consisted of nine young men and young nine women.

MY EXPERIENCE

“At first I was unsure whether to audition for the team or not, but after talking to a close friend who has done some other shows in his previous years at university he said it would be a wonderful experience as the LSE had been chosen as the wild cards for this year. This was also an opportunity to be part of  a noble cause to support the Lily Foundation against Human Trafficking. After making up my mind, I decided to audition and won the place in the team,” he says.

“It was a really fascinating experience on the whole. It was a really big commitment with many hours spent in rehearsals. Learning the actual dance moves, choreography and formations were a challenge which we were all ready to take on.”

But even though the level of difficulty of the dancing itself was very high, with complicated transitions and formations, everyone enjoyed every minute of rehearsals.

“I believe it allowed me to meet many great dancers, choreographers and make new friends. Rehearsals were not just a time to practice, but it was also a time to joke around and have a great laugh, so it was enjoyable in the social aspect too.”

ON THE NIGHT

After receiving two standing ovations following their performance and praises with no negative feedback from the judges, they could not believe they had taken first prize in the competition.

“The judges had also mentioned a couple of times to rename the LSE  the London School of Dance, which shows how impressed they were,” he says.

This was the first time the LSE had taken part in this competition and many of the young men in the team not having danced before.