It is past midnight. But the night is still young at Hindustan College Grounds. The crowd, easily in thousands, dance, scream and wave to their Prabhu Dheva who dances onto the stage and, on the count of three, announces the name of the winner, Karthik. He takes home the title at the grand finale of the Star Vijay’s Ungalil Yaar Adhutha Prabhu Dheva Season II. He also gets a three-bedroom flat sponsored by Om Sakthy Homes.
The finale unfolds on a spectacular stage with flashing lights in purple, orange, yellow, and blue. The audience is treated to a video presentation of the journey of Ungalil Yaar Adhutha Prabhu Dheva Season II, where it watches eager dancers from across Tamil Nadu queuing up, showcasing their skills, and dancing their way to the finals.
In the final leg at Coimbatore, the five finalists —Vijay Varma, Jayanth, Jaffer (the youngster contestant), Karthik and Chandru — line-up on the stage as Ramya, the effervescent host, gives a brief introduction about their passion for dance.
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The season 1 winner of Ungalil Yaar Adhutha Prabhu Dheva, Sheriff, wows the audience with a power-packed performance along with Manoj Kumar, Leelavathy and Divya also from the previous season. “Keep your tension out and dance like it’s going to be the last 10 minutes of your life,” Sheriff tells the finalists. Dancers Gayathri Raghuram, Sridhar, and Ashok Raja, the panel of judges follow it up with a high-energy dance —Gangnam style. Actor Bharath, a permanent judge on the panel, also makes his appearance.
But it is Prabhu Dheva who brings the house down as he enters in style flashing his red leather jacket with his shiny initials PD embossed on it (the jacket goes to the winner). A fit and trim looking Prabhu Dheva says, “I like Coimbatore. I always eat roadside idlis while shooting here. It is very tasty”… and then steals the show with his trademark moves to go go govinda . “Best of luck. Every one of you is already a Prabhu Dheva,” he smiles at the contestants.
There are two rounds — property round and free style dance. Vijay Varma, dressed in a red and gold costume, gives a colourful start to the property round. He dances with decorative sunflowers, and uses a white, red and yellow fabrics in a spectacular fashion. The youngest contestant Jaffer takes you on a trip to a dreamy land of roses, teddy bears, a shiny moon and snowy clouds. “Every step is effortless,” Prabhu Dheva comments and his kids who are with him scream “superaaa irunduchu”. While Jayanth captures the mood in a coal mine, Karthik smears his body in ash, and chooses to play with skulls in his Agori avatar. Chandru emerges as the star performer in this round. He brings alive the dashavatar with grace, effortlessly interchanging the expressions of a ferocious Narasimha and a calm Rama. He gets a thumbs up from Prabhu Dheva for the performance.
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The contestants pay close attention to detail and the props and stage settings used are spectacular, displaying finesse and craftsmanship. Actor Poorna in red gown gives a breezy performance to the Nenjukkule song from Maniratnam’s Kadal. Actor Anuya dances to other peppy numbers. Later, Prabhu Dheva and his team pay homage to Aswathy, one of the participants, who was recently killed in a road accident.
Four finalists make it to the free style level. Jayanth gives an average performance but Jaffer enthrals as he dances to Michael Jacksons’s iconic Dangerous and a medley of modern beats. Chandru and his men wear jackets with fluorescent lights and perform robotic styles. Karthik showcases international dance styles and wins the title. And, Coimbatore loves it and celebrates enthusiastically. “I have lost a number of times before I have become successful. You will get a number of opportunities in life to prove yourself. I will always be there for dance,” Prabhu Dheva tells the contestants as he crowns Karthik with a golden hat.
The Hindu is the media partner for the event.