Team Quick Style in Mumbai | Photo Credit: Purnima Sah
They have come from Norway to the city of dreams to explore the culture, food and, yes, like many others, to look for work opportunities in Mumbai.
Quick Style, a dance group founded by Pakistani-Norwegian twin brothers Suleman Malik, Bilal Malik and their childhood friend Nasir Sirikhan rose to fame with a dance number on Balochi song Kana Yaari at a friend’s wedding in Oslo in 2006. Since then, they have amassed 4.8 million followers on Instagram.
Quick Style team waiting for the bus ride in Mumbai. | Photo Credit: Suraj Bhagat, White Rivers Media
In Mumbai, the group put the spotlight on the city’s popular dabbawalas via a recent Instagram post, reading: ‘’This is how lunch is delivered in Mumbai.’ In it, they hurriedly pass on a red chequered lunch bag in time, to dramatic percussion. The group also ticked off the key touristy list: explored the city in an open-air double decker bus, posed at the Gateway of India and walked along Marine Drive.
I meet the 10-member dance group at the Hilton, where they greet me with a big hello and a rush of giggles. Over the years the team added seven more dancers who are from across Europe and Asia, specialising in modern dance, ballet and hip hop. Now, Quick Style is looking to collaborate with creative directors, photographers and dancers from Mumbai’s film industry. And, as Nasir points out, “Most importantly, we also want to try more food!”
At first glance, I am struck by the regional diversity in the group. “We all have a lot to contribute in terms of culture in the group. I think we are lucky to be diverse.” Over the years the dance group has added seven more dancers who are from across Europe and Asia, specialising in modern dance, ballet and hip hop.
Quick Style at Marine Drive | Photo Credit: Suraj Bhagat, White Rivers Media
Indian connect
Indian music has pulled them out of their comfort zone, says Bilal. “Some of us are into modern dance, while some are into ballet, but we all can absolutely move to Indian Balle Balle,” he says. On cue, the rest start to groove in their chairs.
“When we started hip hop, we danced with a lot of technique, which doesn’t engage with feelings, and that became our comfort zone,” continues Bilal. “But Bollywood music made us come out of this zone as it engages emotions.”
When Suleman begins to speak, the rest tease him on some inside joke; but he avoids the banter by putting on his kala chashma and a straight face. “Hip hop culture is new, compared to Indian, Thai, Moroccan or African culture, which are thousand years [old]. Before bringing the element of heart and feelings into hip-hop dance, we all went through the techniques,” he says, adding that since hip hop is still evolving, they constantly combine different cultures and traditions to their dance movements.”
Experiencing Mumbai’s iconic open-air double decker bus ride. | Photo Credit: Suraj Bhagat, White Rivers Media
Recalling their first performance in India, in Mumbai this March, Norwegian Hip Hop dancer Yasin Tatby, says they did not expect to receive so much love and appreciation from the Indian audience. “We were just happy to have our own show on stage. We didn’t know how many people had come to watch us — but we could hear them chanting ‘Quick Style...Quick Style…’ from the backstage.
For Nasir, the Mumbai performance was special, as it was their first show in India. “Seeing people attend the show with their friends, family and children — some carried big posters saying they love Quick Style — we haven’t seen such a level of commitment to us even in our home country! We became emotional, we had happy tears, we had a lump in our throat; we couldn’t speak.”
How does every dance of theirs, on every Indian song go viral? Are they selective about the songs, or do they pick only hit numbers? Yasin clarifies, “It doesn’t have anything to do with the popularity of the songs. When we danced to Kala Chashma, we were shuffling through songs and all of us started jumping to the beats of that song. It is just about the energy.”
Most of us don’t know the songs or their lyrics, adds Nasir, “We didn’t even watch the video, we were just playing it in the studio. Anything that catches our attention and makes us want to dance, that’s our song to groove on.”
The team also mentions their dance video clip with cricketer Virat Kohli, shot during their Mumbai visit.“He is super nice and a humble guy. Surprisingly he had a lot of confidence in terms of dancing because when we showed him the dance movements and explained to him how we were going to do it, he was ready for it and we got it done in just two shots. He could be a Bollywood star, he should act in movies,” says Suleman.
Step by step
Quick Style wants to explore opportunities in India, including the possibility of a dance dance studio in Mumbai. Bilal says, “There are a lot of good dancers in India. There are so many dance studios already. We need to understand what can we give that is different from other dance studios... Our studio in Norway is a community we have developed with friendship and support from people.”
