MUMBAI: Breezer and Only Much Louder came together to build the ultimate platform for hip-hop with Breezer Vivid Shuffle. India's biggest hip-hop dance festival Grand Finale took place in Mumbai’s Famous Studios on 11 November 2017, with a fantastic programme including 117 finalists fighting it out to be crowned India’s best in their category alongside an array of top international talent performing to the delight of the crowds.

India’s imminent rapper and a big name in hip-hop scene Divine aka Vivian was also part of the grand finale. He said, “It’s a great feeling to be associated with Breezer Vivid Shuffle on this big occasion. They approached me since I am into hip-hop. This festival is about everything (all the four elements of hip-hop).”

He further added, “With this, we have reached a point where we can take it to a greater level. We can take it to a level where no genre in India can be. If we put in the same efforts of putting all the elements of hip-hop we will be around the world.”

He was excited to be there at the event. He said, “It’s beautiful to be here. I’ve been waiting for this all my life. Now, that it’s happening in front of my eyes its sheer joy.”

The festival was announced in September by Bollywood actor and the festival’s brand ambassador, Varun Dhawan.  The grand finale at Famous Studio Grand Finale was a culmination of five hard-fought regional rounds throughout India.

On being the brand ambassador, Varun Dhawan exclaimed with joy. He said, “I think for me it’s exciting. OML does such a great job with NH7 and lot of friends attend the festival. Everything that I have seen or spoken with musicians who perform there are just happy. For me, it’s the people who take part in this festival. It is so important that artistes are happy that they are getting the platform to show their creative side.”

About his expectations from the finale, he said, “I am looking forward to fireworks from the finale. I would love to see the fantastic artistes and the showdown by Divine. I would not like to miss out his showdown performance. I am also excited to watch Mary Poppins, Kinjaz and Abish Mathew-Kenny Sebastian performing in the house. This is not just an event it was a long process for Breezer Vivid Shuffle. So , we will also be awarding the winners who journeyed to the finale and made it as a winner. To find out the best of the best would be really interesting.”

When it comes to hip-hop, Varun personally follows Chris Brown. His Beautiful People performance for MTV music video award 2011 is just thrilling to watch. Varun shared, “His performance lifted him in the air. It was an inspirable act for me. I also like Les Twins who won the world dance championship this year. I see a talented pool of artistes in India too like Piyush Bhagat, Raghav, Dharmesh and Puneet who are just revolutionizing the dance scene in our country. They are absolutely phenomenal with what they are doing.”  

"Dance in India is going through an exciting phase with the growth of Hip-hop culture. It’s been a rewarding experience to associate with Breezer Vivid Shuffle to give talent from across the country the space to showcase their moves. It's simply inspiring to see so much passion in today's youth for hip-hop; this is an absolute game-changer for the Indian scene,” says Varun Dhawan, the festival’s brand ambassador, and hip-hop influencer.

While OML said, “When you look at Varun Dhawan he is vibrant and has got his moves and that’s what Breezer Vivid Shuffle all about.”

Varun also added, “The kind of platform we are getting now, we can show the world what it’s all about. In Bollywood film, I don’t think hip-hop can be expressed in a real way as we have certain restrictions. We have a great artiste Divine who is an amazing talent. In fact, I should tell him to come up with a song on Delhi smog. It’s a serious thing happening in Delhi and I am concerned about it.”

The competition attracted over 1300 participants through the five regional rounds in Guwahati, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. Winners came from all over India with He-Man from Delhi winning the one-on-one Popping category (with 1st runner-up: Manish from Delhi), B-Boy Flying Machine from Mumbai coming out on top in the one-on-one Breaking category (with 1st runner-up:  B-Boy Panther from Mumbai), Same Age Crew from Delhi reigning triumphant in the All Styles Crew Battle (with 1st runner-up Indian Roc from Delhi) and the Offbeat Crew conquering the All Styles Crew Showcases (with 1st runner-up Gang13).

Alongside the Breaking, Popping and Crew All Styles Finals, there were exciting performances from Divine, Abish Mathew and Kenny Sebastian along with showcases from B-Boy Differ, Marie Poppins, The Kinjaz and Desi Hoppers (including Shantanu Maheshwari).

"Breezer Vivid Shuffle has been a thrilling experience for us. We were excited to create the first of its kind platform for hip-hop in this country, and the response and the level of talent that we have discovered across the country have been absolutely phenomenal and immensely gratifying,” says Bacardi India marketing head Anshuman Goenka.

He further added, “We look forward to building on this immensely successful first year and we hope that Breezer Vivid Shuffle will encourage even greater numbers to join in next year and share this exciting journey with us as the enthusiasm for hip-hop dance continues to grow across India."

During the event, Varun also spoke about the upcoming movie ABCD 3. He said, “One similarity between ABCD3 and Breezer Vivid Shuffle would be that the underground scene is always unexplored. Anything that is overly commercialized we only see that. What Breezer Vivid Shuffle is doing is bringing artistes you’ve not seen or heard of.”