Interview
Svetana Kanwar is as ‘Bomb’ as her – THE BOM SQUAD.
Svetana Kanwar, founder of “The Bom Squad” which is an all girls dance group. These girls have participated in may competitions and have won as well. The red-haired girl is very famous for moves which she fusions with the Bollywood music, which also makes her go viral on the internet. Have a look at the questions she answered on an interview with the Paradox about herself, her journey, her struggles and many more.
An exclusive interview with Svetana Kanwar:
What are your thoughts on dancing in India as a profession?
Svetana Kanwar: Honestly, I started dancing to 14 to 15 years back. At that time period, choosing dance as a profession was very difficult and the mindset of the people denied accepting dancing as a career. But the time have changed now, people accept it as a full time job to be a dancer. Still mant parents thinks that you are not a dancer until you win a reality show or even take part in it. It’s the mindset which needs to be changed, other than that there are a lot more opportunity for the young generation to take it as a career.
What does dancing means to you? How do you feel when you dance?
Svetana Kanwar: The answer to this question changes according to the phase of life I am in. Also my age plays an important role In describing it. If you would have asked me this question 10 years or 5 years back then my answer would be different each time. There was a time when dance used to be my entire life but now it is an very important part of my life. It helps me express myself, makes me confident, make me realise reality, basically it is a stabilizer in my life.
What would you say to people who wants to take dancing as a career?
Svetana Kanwar :Also it depends on time, if I talk about myself I had times when I could hardly breathe and there were also the times when I had much and much time to breathe, and this is what life is. Being a self-employed dancer is not a stable job but it gives you joy, satisfaction and mental peace. You can be choreographer, teacher, dance artist for movies, content creators and many more. You have got many platforms which can help you to be a professional dancer.
What difference did the Pandemic has made in your field?
Svetana Kanwar: It has made a huge difference for me. First lockdown was very productive for me, because of online classes I have learned so many new things. But the second lockdown was not that great as many things were going on and there was shortage of money. All my plans, which I would be accomplishing 6 years down, l want to do it now. My goals have been shifted. Covid has been a teacher for everyone and has taught something to everyone in a good or a bad way.
Which BOM Squad performance is closest to your heart?
Svetana: We did a performance called #metoo, I get goosebumps even thinking about it. I remember, we wrote every incident of our life and not only the small ones but also the big ones. It was about 26 minutes long and when we presented it, we made it around 2,5 minutes. It was very memorable for us as we were able to express what we were feeling and the response we got was overwhelming. So this was something very different that remains close to my heart.
What is your driving force which got you this far?
Svetana: I haven’t ever imagined my dancing career as it is now. When I was younger I never imagined that this many people would know me, I would be this big name in the dancing industry. But yes it feels great. When I started I had thoughts to achieve even more which I am not able to achieve till date. But it feels good to know that your work is appreciated and ypu are known among your rivals. Whenever someone says me that I wont be able to do it, I always did it. This is the which keeps me driving towards the success.
What are your moods like when it comes to dancing, keeping apart your achieving spirit?
Svetana: The mood which keeps me dancing, and also the reason why I love Jazz so much is sensuality. It is the thing which is easy to adopt for me. I can quickly learn it and is very easy for me to express myself in that. I think pain is a mood which come to me easily as well.
Apart from Jazz what are the other dance styles which you love to do?
Svetana: I think contemporary is the form which I love practicing, although I am not in that good shape in which in can practice Contemporary or even Jazz, because I have not been traning myself much. Other that this I enjoy dancing in the Bollywood style a lot.
How was your struggling phase?
Svetana: I was a non-dancer which is the most struggling part in my initial days. I was very weak on rhythm and body movement. I left my marketing management course to be a dancer but I was very bad it. My teacher used to make me stand in the corner of the last row, that’s how bad dancer I was. I am not a fast learner but I can work really hard to learn something and that is the reason why I call myself as a good teacher.
What I think is I have built resilience because of my struggles. I have also struggled because of my weight, there is a great difference from now in my body weight. I always use to hear I cannot dance as I was fat but that was the mentality at that time. It was a struggler had a phase of lot of learning as well as I wanted to build a name of myself in the outside world. It has been a good journey and still is. I am still learning and will continue doing.
What would be the 5 best qualities that you would pick out of yourself?
Svetana: Its always hard to praise yourself but still the qualities would be…
- I am very Hardworking.
- Also I don’t give up easily.
- I would call my Stubbornness as a good quality to some extent.
- I am at a certain level where I can emphasis with others.
- Being emotional and sensitive is considered as a negative quality but I don’t think so.
What are your upcoming projects?
Svetana: Yes, there are a couple of projects coming, I cannot talk much about them. But yes there are a few collaborations as well. December and January are more personal then professional as I am travelling. I will start teacing from January and I am very excited for that.
Whom would you consider as your Role Models?
Svetana: There are lot of people who are my role models. It changes according to situation as there are so many brilliant people out there with so many qualities. But the people who I constantly look upto would be Galen Hooks, Brian Friedman and Jojo Gomez. For leadership qualities I look upto M.S Dhoni, and Suresh from Kings United has also built a great team as a leader.
Where do you see yourself after 5 years?
Svetana: After 5 years, I don’t see myself in the city like Mumbai, I see myself in Banglore or Goa or Dehradun or Dubai or Doha. I basically see myself in a nice big home, starting my own academy or classes. Because I don’t see Mumbai as a learning culture any more and so there is less Teaching culture as well. I want to get back to teaching and that’s where I see myself in the next 5 years.
What was your most significant failure and how did you overcome that?
Svetana: I think it is my struggle itself. All the failures were at the struggle phase only like I was a camera shy, I couldn’t dance infront of the camera. I don’t believe in failure bit instead I take it as learning.
What are your fears now?
Svetana: I fesr of losing my fame which I have earned in these many years with my hardwork. I fear that 2 or 3 years later no one would recognize who Svetana Kanwar is. I think this is the biggest fear.
What would be your advice to the freshers in dancing industry?
Svetana: I would say that don’t let your fall or failure stop you from what you are trying to achieve. It takes time, hardwork and a certain amount of luck to reach at the top of any field you want to achieve. The whole thing is about not giving up, you are allowed to take a break but not to quit.
This was Svetana Kanwar along with her interesting journey and honest answers in front of you. She has travelled a log way to achieve what she has today and all her hardwork, sacrifice and dedication has payed off to her with such a good name among the dance industry.
To know more about The Bom Squad
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If you watch reels all day we are sure you have once in your scrolling journey came across Rajesh Yadav and if you binge-watch OTT content every day and Campus Diaries is your favourite show then you must be friendly with Sandy! Paradox gets candid and stocks up the inspo from none other than Rajesh Yadav!
1) When did you begin creating material professionally? Was there ever a spontaneous notion or incident that altered your perception of content creation as a profession?
Rajesh Yadav: In December 2015 I started making content, and by God’s grace, my first video drew a big audience. My second video later went viral, making the characters well-known. As my first video went viral, I was motivated to work even harder on my content creation and no longer had to worry about making this my career.
2) Were there any other role models you admired before beginning your journey?
Who motivated you to keep going?
Rajesh Yadav: I liked watching TVF and AIB’s funny and caustic videos before I started working in this field. After seeing their work, I became a fan and started making videos.
3) When did your life change for the better?
Rajesh Yadav: Creating my first video marked a turning moment in my life because I had never before considered a career in the arts or as a content developer. Although I didn’t have much experience in this sector while I was in college. I joined a theatre organization because I had some free time, and I worked there on the weekends.
4) How did you find acting as Sandy in the Campus diaries?
Rajesh Yadav: Sandy from Campus Diaries was my first role in a web series. Due to his many varied characteristics, including the fact that he begins as a friend and ends up as a villain, Sandy is an extremely distinctive character. I had never portrayed a somewhat pessimistic role before. For the first time, I had the opportunity to participate in something brand-new; perhaps the second season will have even more surprises.
5) Whoever would you like to work with if you had the chance to work with any artist in the world, and why?
Rajesh Yadav: Shahrukh Khan is the person I would choose to collaborate with if given the chance. Shahrukh Khan is someone we have all admired and been inspired by since we were young kids, no matter where he is today. I’ve wanted to meet Shahrukh Khan since I was a young child, and if I ever had the chance to work with anyone I wish, Shahrukh Khan would be my first choice.
6) What difficulties did you face at the beginning of your journey?
Rajesh Yadav: The major obstacle I had to overcome at the beginning of my adventure was learning how to produce original and creative videos for the audience. My goal was to come up with concepts that I might potentially employ in novel ways over the long term rather than to produce something that couldn’t be used in the future. Thankfully, I had only encountered these challenges in my first video.
7) Your thoughts? Is that your greatest success to date?
Rajesh Yadav: Any success I may have feels enormous to me as a regular person who enjoys watching superstars and I always had fantasies about meeting them. Nevertheless, now that I’ve recently collaborated with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, communicating and working with them. It is an accomplishment. After following him in college and attempting to meet him, it’s an enormous accomplishment for me to be able to communicate and work with superstars.
8) What is your greatest professional goal?
Rajesh Yadav: We are all aware that every one of us has different goals. My current objective is to play the main character in a movie or web series so that I may discover my talent and exhibit it to others. This is my current objective, and after I reach it, I’ll think about pursuing some more challenging objectives.
9) How have you found performing and writing for MensXP? It is a truly new platform that requires robust connectivity in order to function.
Rajesh Yadav : Four years of working with MensXP has been a wonderful experience. You can work there with complete creative freedom whether you’re writing or acting. It’s critical that you are given the freedom to complete your task on your schedule without interruption. As a result of the drastically different environment you find yourself in, the genre is quite varied and contains humor.
10) What is the final message you would like to convey to your supporters and well-wishers?
Rajesh Yadav: I can only advise my well-wishers to take care of themselves. In this society when everyone is scrambling for something, we all neglect to take care of our physical and mental health. Sometimes we continue to put our physical health first while ignoring our mental health. I, therefore, urge every one of my well-wishers to take care of both themselves and others around them.
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Anuj Saini a pre-dominant face of advertising industry is ruling the Indian entertainment industry. Recently he was seen in Gandhi Godse Ek Yudha as character of Naren . He also featured alongside actresses like Jacqueline Fernandez in Mere Angne Mein and Dhvani Bhanushali in Vaaste. he is also seen in many advertisements which includes KFC, Sprite, Nivea, Cadbury,Tata and other known brands.
When did you start your career as an actor?
Anuj Saini: After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, I moved to Mumbai and began my acting career there in 2017.
How has your experience been in the advertising industry? You have been their favourite face for years.
Anuj Saini: Advertising is quite competitive; for a single ad, about 5000 candidates audition, but only one girl and one male are chosen. I’ve spent 6 to 8 hours working on a clothing advertisement set, and I love it. Once we start producing advertising, it’s wonderful, and I get to enjoy creating television commercials.
Just keep trying, improving, and being patient are key characteristics in this field.
What was your first show and how was your first experience working in that show?
Anuj Saini: It was a music video for the song VAASTE that I appeared in. That was my very first acting experience, and it was a great one. The great Rajkumar Santoshi sir’s Gandhi Vs. Godse, my debut movie, will be released in theatres across India next month
As acting is not a cup of tea for everyone! How did you know that you can do it as an actor?
Anuj Saini: It takes months of preparation for a three-hour test (a movie), and acting is a 24-hour career where you have to get better every day with no turning back.
There were so many superstars back in the days so who inspired you the most to become an actor?
Anuj Saini: The actors who most inspired me to pursue acting were Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Sushant Singh Rajput. Due to their consistency in remaining where they are and doing their best up to this point, we are all aware that these people didn’t got support from others in the industry.
Which achievement means a lot to you and is there any other achievement you look forward to achieving?
Anuj Saini: It meant a lot to me when I was chosen for my first feature film, which will be released in January, because I had no familiarity and many talented people chose me for the role. This is a huge accomplishment for me And I have a lot of accomplishments I want to get to.
You have met many different personalities from different fields. Who was most inspiring and why?
Anuj Saini: Anuja Patil, a former player for India, influenced me greatly with her personality . She changed the outlook of way of communicating with others. She is incredibly generous.
What do you want to share that many people don’t know about you?
Anuj Saini: Although I’m a big introvert and am really shy in real life, there is a switch that allows me to be completely different in front of the camera.
What message would you like to give to upcoming actors who follow you?
Anuj Saini: Keep working and hustling. Bombay is a city where one phone call has the power to completely alter your journey, but it will take time for that call to reach you. Until then, stay positive, put in a lot of effort, and don’t give up.
Lastly, what is one message that you want to give to your followers and well-wishers?
Please continue to support me; I’ll do everything in my ability to make you all smile.
AAP HAI TO HUM HAI!!
