The Bhangra Showdown 2019

What is The Bhangra Showdown?

The Bhangra Showdown has been organised by Imperial College Punjabi Society since 2007. Various universities across the country, with students from different courses and years, train for months to compete in front of an audience of 3000.

Previously, it has taken place in both Birmingham and in London, in venues such as Wembley Arena, NIA Birmingham and Resorts World Arena.

The high production stage set up, quality of teams and high profile Punjabi artists are reasons why students, families and Bhangra lovers look forward to this competition every year. Moreover, the funds for this event go towards charitable causes.

Following the competition, some of the teams’ Youtube videos have crossed over 100,000 views, making it a globally followed competition.

Anisha Malli said, “TBS is the biggest student run show in the UK, so its size alone does give it a different atmosphere to other Imperial shows. Also, it is entertainment not just for students, but also for families. The show attracts people from so many different backgrounds and is enjoyable for all.”

What can we expect from this year’s competition?

Nothing less than a night of entertainment should be expected. This includes a star studded line up of Punjabi artists and the most elite university Bhangra teams competing.

Bhangra is a colourful and vibrant dance form originating from the Indian subcontinent. Over the last few decades, it has attracted undeniable popularity worldwide with its high energy performances, fluid movement and formations, and music that will want to make you dance!

Artists include high profile names in Bhangra music, such as Punjabi MC, Raxstar, Surinder Shinda and The PropheC. Expect to hear the famous ‘Mundian Toh Bach Ke’, which is the synonymous Bhangra song you hear at every night out!

University teams competing include Aston University, Brunel University, Hertfordshire University, Imperial College London, Kings College London, Leicester University, Loughborough University, St. George’s and Royal Holloway University. All of the teams will be co-ed, which usually consists of eight male and eight female dancers.

Who organises The Bhangra Showdown?

Our very own Imperial Punjabi society, a small committee of less than a dozen, organises this competition year on year.

Aman Ghataura, a 4th year Physics student, from the committee, said: “The Punjabi Society has been working round the clock to bring the most modern and exciting TBS to date. We have one of the best teams this year and are super excited to bring TBS back home to the Apollo”

Anisha Malli, a 2nd year medical student, also from the committee, said, “Despite how stressful running a show of this size has been for its main organisers, it is definitely worth it because TBS is amazing to watch and we get to raise money for some incredible charities.

What drew me to PSoc was its inclusivity and how the whole society felt like an extension of my family. I’d never been part of anything related to my culture whilst at school so it was exciting to learn more about being Punjab at university.”

Whilst The Bhangra Showdown is now world renowned, these Imperial students over the last decade have worked to make it a success story. This was considered unexpected in the words of Hardeep Dhanjal, founder of The Bhangra Showdown – an imperial student back in 2007!

“It started as an idea between good friends, with a view to replicating the successes of well-known shows in the US and Canada, which were gaining traction on YouTube at the time.

We were fortunate that the Millennium Dome had just been purchased by O2 and so an amazing venue was available for a relatively good price and we managed to convince the student union that Bhangra would be the next best thing after Britain’s Got Talent!

Unfortunately, up until the night before the show, we had only confirmed 250 tickets, leaving most of us disappointed.

However, we were then pleasantly surprised to hear that the phone hadn’t stopped ringing all morning on the final day, pushing our debut numbers to 1000! This was the beginning of Bhangra in the modern era for the UK and the competition space has now expanded significantly beyond our wildest imagination.”

The Imperial Team

Imperial College also has its own Bhangra team, which has competed every year at The Bhangra Showdown. It has generally been quite successful – winning the competition three times and placing in most. However, one of the most special things about the Imperial team is how inclusive the team is to new dancers and giving them this opportunity. Dancers from the team tell us more:

Maya Satheeskaran, a 1st year medical student from Southside hall said, “one of my mates took me to a free bhangra session. Even though I was bad at it, I went to more sessions as I really enjoyed it and going to more helped me improve. Then, luckily, I was selected when auditions came around.

I think it’s nice for the team to change every year so that new people can meet each other. I look up at the older dancers as I’m starting up on the bhangra journey, but I hope that I continue it in future years potentially.”

Annanya Menon, a 3rd year medical student said, “over the years I have come to appreciate the different styles of dance, even the difference in technique within a dance form. Bhangra has been more about technique and fitness.

Having danced a lot at university, Bhangra was a different dance form I wanted to try to push myself. It is a very different process and experience and provides a physical challenge. I have enjoyed picking up new technique over the last few weeks and bettering my skills as a dancer with the use of various props as well as enjoying the variation in dance style within Bhangra.”

Many of the dancers have done multiple shows during their time at Imperial. For example, Maya is also currently choreographing for East Meets West and Annanya was captain of Imperial’s winning Just Bollywood team. However, it is clear that, for these dancers, there is something unique about TBS that makes months of difficult training so worthwhile.

Lakshi Selva, a 5th year medical student and captain of the team this year said, “Bhangra has taught me a lot about time management and being efficient. Bhangra makes a good break from 5th year medicine which can otherwise be quite monotonous and repetitive. The challenge of The Bhangra Showdown keeps me on my feet and gives me something new to look forward to everyday.”

The Cause

The Bhangra Showdown will be raising money for two charities; Mehar Baba charitable trust and Nishkam Sikh Welfare and awareness team (SWAT).

Mehar Baba aims to bridge the urban-rural gap in education, medicare and employment opportunities whilst SWAT works on projects to transform financially disadvantaged communities and improving their long term prospects.

How can I get tickets?

The 12th edition of The Bhangra Showdown is set to be an exciting one that you should not miss on 2nd March 2019.

Tickets for the competition are selling out fast and can be purchased from the Eventim Apollo website. For more details about it, visit the Facebook and Instagram pages.

Contact the Imperial Ticket Rep, Karman Bhullar, on Facebook for student priced tickets.