Awez Darbar: The Dancing Star Your work should be your passion, says Darbar

With over 30 million followers on Instagram and 11.9 million subscribers on YouTube, Awez Darbar is not just a dance influencer, but a celebrity and a brand in himself.

Darbar decided to pursue dance when he was still in school. "I still remember the day I saw Hritik Roshan dance on Ek pal ka jeena and not only him, but I started following other Bollywood actors and sought inspiration from them," he recalls. Darbar's dance journey started from there. During his initial years, he practiced on his own and participated in competitions where he was fortunate enough to bag a few victories. This instilled a lot of confidence in him.

Nevertheless, like any success story, his story is also not devoid of struggles. For the first 5 to 6 years, when he was learning to dance, he used to travel extensively almost every day. Later, when he became a dance instructor, he started traveling even more, to three different places. "In one day, I had to travel early in the morning to Thane then to Mahalakshmi then Church Gate and then come back to Andheri. I used to get down and take an auto and used to stop a lot prior to my venue owing to the money crunch and then used to run to the dance studio to not miss the classes. There are a lot of unknown struggles that I have dealt with in my life," he says.

However, despite hardships, he was clear that life is all about experiencing and growing.

"Don't take your work as work. Your work should be your passion. So if things are not going in your favor, that doesn't mean you should be unhappy. I am happy with what I do and that is why it keeps me going," the dance influencer advises budding dancers.

Another thing that keeps him going is the fact that he doesn't think too much and goes with the flow. "Since the day I stopped overthinking, a lot of things have fallen into place in my life," he says.

As we wrap this interview, Darbar leaves us with a crazy fan moment he encountered in Hyderabad. "During an event, one of my fans who was somewhat like a "Bhai" kinda person there came to meet me. He said, Awez Bhai tum yahan kya kar rahe ho? Ye toh kharab event hai, mere sath chalo main tumko bohot ache event pe le chalta hoon. He fought with all the management people and I told him not to fight and that I will accompany him.

He then took me to his locality where he had around 100 to 200 people playing drums, and dancing and had garlands for me. They gracefully took pictures with me and dropped me to my hotel. After this incident, I was very scared but also happy. It was a mixed emotion for me. Now that I think of it in retrospect, it was a very weird and nice experience altogether."

FACTSHEET

• Instagram: 30.5Mn
• YouTube: 11.9Mn