The MONK who can DANCE...

‘Being BOHO in BALI’ was the theme of our recent travel/explore the world diaries of my girls and I. Bali is all about the serene beaches, the hot(wink) volcano mountain trek, beautiful temples, the crazy night life, and how can I forget the ever rejuvenating SPAS. We sure did accomplish our annual SPA treatment goals (wink, wink).

Explore new places, a trait that I picked up from Financial Guru (Dad) over the years, is elementary in defining my life goals, visions and perspective. The artist in me is always in search of a BOHEMIAN true to his/ her passion. And right before my trip I actually met one. Call him a GYPSY, call him crazy or simply call him ‘CROCROAXZ’…

The MONK

Raghav Juyal famously known as CROCROAXZ is renowned for the unique ‘SLOW MOTION’ dance style. His innate ability to combine Lyrical Hip Hop, Digiting and free style dance moves in slow motion has actually created a new dance form ‘SLOW-MO’ or the ‘CROCROAXZ’ style. I share the emotion with GEETA KAPOOR (judge/mentor on DID), on his debut in DID-3 (Dance India Dance) auditions - his classic SLO-MO walk on ‘SILSILA YEH CHAHAT KA’(Devdas-movie), when she said, “I want to take you HOME.”

Celebrated as the KING of SLOW MOTION and his ability to effortlessly tickle the Funny bone, Raghav till date leads the life of a NOMAD. In my special rendezvous with Raghav I got to explore a side of him that not many are aware of.

Everyone is a huge fan of the slow mo walk, it’s your trademark per se what was the motivation behind your signature style?

As a child I was always slow at everything be it studies or sports. I would actually tease my friends to hit me and I would fall on the ground in slow motion. So I decided to make my weakness my strength. Also we live in a fast paced world, everyone is running to achieve something, in this RACE I stood out for being SLOW (laughs).

How did CROCROAXZ come into existence?

I was a part of a dance crew ‘D- MANIACS’. Back in school my friends used to tease me with the name CROCROAZ. They would say my dance style is as powerful as a crocodile and as creepy as a cockroach, since then its stuck around with me forever.

Dance+ is one show wherein every element at the core is a dancer from the super judge to the mentors/ judges and also the host. How did anchoring happen?

Apart from dance life has been more of a serendipity for me. I got an audition call for the movie Sonali Cable from Ramesh Sippy Entertainment and was selected for the role of Sada. Later on Ranjit Sir from Star Tv called me and asked me to be a part of Dance+. I was sceptical as I had never hosted a show ever in my life and also I am not so good at reciting scripted lines. So he just asked me to be at my impromptu best and the show was made. I am thankful to the people for having accepted my jibber jabber on the show.

A wild memory from Dehradun and your struggling days?

Wow! There are so many…I love trekking, camping, etc so whenever I am in my hometown my friends and I go for treks. There have been 2-3 instances wherein I have actually encountered a tiger. And the only thing that human instincts tell you to do in such a situation is RUN for your life....

I belong to a small town, coming to Mumbai was actually like me travelling to a foreign land. I had my Bollywood hero moment when I got down at VT station and entered the ‘Sapno ki Nagri’. But I soon got my reality check by living in sheds and befriending rats (I named two of them as Tommy & Hilfiger) (LOLSSS). Until DID season 3 it was a bittersweet struggle.

Will Shakti ever accept your proposal on the show?

(The deadly silence)…NO (laughs) {heartbreak}. She’s the only girl I can joke around with and not feel sorry.

YEH BANDHAN TOH.... PYAR KA BANDHAN HAI.......JANMO KA SANGAM HAI (wink)

QUICK 5 with the SLOW KING(wink)

Favourite Actor: Kangana Ranaut & Nawazuddin Siddiqe.

Favourite Dance Style (apart from your style): Indian Classical (I was a bit surprised at his choice). I love to watch any dance form which I can’t do myself.

A Dancer/Dance Crew that has inspired you: JabberWocky (group).

Choices….

Famous Dancer/ Actor/ Host (anchor): Remove famous and I want to do everything.

Love/ Money/ Dance: ‘Love Always’ all the way. I don’t believe in channelizing Love to a thing or a person. Spread Love with nature, people and every living being.

A FINAL MESSAGE…

FAME is the DEVIL; ART is the ANGEL. Fame will come and go but Art will stay with you forever. And a request to all the people let us all work towards reducing pollution and make this world a better place to live in.

His humility and modesty impressed me to confer the ‘MONK’ title on him (pass for being politically incorrect-wink). With the Dance+ season 2 coming to an end I am going to miss The MONK (Raghav) on TV.

Special mention, photo credits Ashish and the soul of Mansissism: Happy Baheti....