Amit Malwankar and Fallon Nettu

THE WINNERS

Crowd favourites Amit Malwankar and Fallon Nettu, both aged 25, were declared champions, with Mithun Chakraborty crowning them with the ‘Taqdeer Ki Topi’. Recipient of nine grand salutes from Mithun, including six on the trot, the Mumbai couple are students at the Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts. “But we didn’t know Marzi (Pestonji) Sir was here till shooting started,” they said of Shiamak’s assistant, who mentored them on the show. “They deserved to win. They have the will power of a horse,” said Marzi. Asked about celebration plans, they said in one voice: “We want to sleep.”

Shveta Salve, Mithun Chakraborty and Master Geeta Kapoor

MAN OF HEARTS

Which side of Mithun Chakraborty’s heart beats louder, asked host Jay Bhanushali. Well, the answer is a matter of (shared) chemistry and not biology! The two parts of the Disco Dancer’s heart belong to hostess Shveta Salve and Master Geeta (Kapoor). Mithunda was locked in a slow, romantic dance on stage with Shveta when he was caught red-handed by a jealous Geeta. What followed was pure fun, showing why Mithun still stars in comic blockbusters like Golmaal 3. Geeta deserved a thumbs up too. “She fell from the stage while rehearsing two days back and is still walking with a limp,” confided a unit hand. But there was no way you would have seen that as you watched her pull off an Indian classical act and the cameo with Mithun.

Saurabh Bangani, Sonali Kar and Vivek Jaiswal

Calcutta connection

Christened Changu-Mangu by their mentor Marzi Pestonji, Calcutta boys Saurabh Bangani and Vivek Jaiswal — who danced to the title track from F.A.L.T.U — came a creditable third. They topped in the support department — a team of 40 friends and relatives had come from home on Mumbai Mail! Saurabh, 21, the Dance Bangla Dance 2009 winner, inspired the 19-year-old Vivek, a fellow student in a dance academy, to team up. “They landed in the danger zone six times; yet they fought back to reach the finals,” said Marzi in praise.

Belghoria girl Sonali Kar came a long way from being a background dancer in Dance Bangla Dance (“I danced behind Saurabh too”) to being the runner-up, partnering Mangalore boy Cornell. “Both of us came with different partners but Dada (Mithun) united us. We never thought we’d reach this far,” said the 21-year-old, who has to take her political science final exams in two months.

Tarupudi Pruthvi Raj (aka Prithvi) and Vivek Wamanrao Chachere

 

Audience’s choice

The Prithvi-Vivek duo might not have made it to the finals but they took home the Viewers’ Choice award from actor Pavan Malhotra, from Zee TV’s new show Chhoti si Zindagi. Their repeat performance of the robo-lavni dance number showed why the act had fetched the highest number of audience votes when they had put it up earlier.

Saroj Khan with Vikram Singh Gill and Niharika Soni

 

Stylish couple

Vikram-Niharika came fourth but were crowned the most stylish jodi by Saroj Khan, who had a special word of praise for Niharika after their performance.