Shake It Up (Indian TV series)

Shake It Up is an Indian sitcom airing on Disney Channel India. The series premiered on March 30, 2013. The series is an Indian adaptation of the 2010–2013 American television series Shake It Up. The series was created by Chris Thompson and RJ Nirja Pathak was guide.

It revolves around the misadventures of best friends Neel (Neeladri) Walia and Yash (Yashpal) Mehta, two confident and energetic 13-year-olds who are skilled dancers and are on tue threshold of taking their steps into the world of professional dancing.

History

Late in the Summer of 2011, the original Shake It Up was set to premiere. However, due to the popularity of Best Of Luck Nikki, an Indian adaption of Good Luck Charlie, an Indian Version of Shake It Up was put into production. It was set to premiere during the summer of 2012 along with The Suite Life of Karan & Kabir. Due to difficulties finding suitable actors, the script was rewritten to include two lead male characters as opposed to female characters like in the American version.

Characters

Main characters

Neeladri "Neel" Walia

It is played by Sparsh Shrivastav. He is the lead character of the series. He is a very talented dancer though having a great talent of dance is useful he discovers many problems with school activities. He thinks he is a cool guy because of his non studies attitude or taking part in activities which mostly children like at his age e.g. like playing video games. But ends in with some scolding from his mother or suffers some other problem. He is a dyslexic but it doesn't matter when he is helped by Yash or Vishal. He shares a brother-like relationship with Yash as they are best friends. He is the equivalent of CeCe Jones, portrayed by Bella Thorne.

Yashpal "Yash" Mehta

It is played by Ojas Godtwar. He is the second lead character after Neel. He is the best friend of Neel. He is more talented than Neel and is not afraid of anything. Most the time when he is not at Shake it Up, he's at Neel's home. He is talented in studies (mostly), karate, dance and sports. He makes most jokes of Manjot and Mandeep. He makes fewer problems than Neel. He helps Neel to overcome his dyslexia. He is known as Yash as he is totally outclass in dancing. He is the equivalent of Rocky Blue, portrayed by Zendaya.

S.P. Kiran Walia

It is played by Asawari Joshi. She is the single mother of Ayush and Neel. As a police inspector, she is very strict and loyal and if anyone makes mistakes (except Ayush) she does not leave them. She always scolds Neel due to his poor results in school and whenever he makes a mistake. Sometimes she warns Shekhar Grover because he helps Neel and Yash. She is the equivalent of Georgia Jones, portrayed by Anita Barone.

Ayush Walia

It is played by Faiq Shaikh. He is the younger brother of Neel and the one that Kiran is never shouting. He likes to play video games a lot and whenever Vishal teaches a beat he starts to play videogames. He does mischief with Yash's brother and he is known as a Chick Magnet Boy. He is the equivalent of Flynn Jones, portrayed by Davis Cleveland.

Jay Mehta

It is played by Preet Rajput. He is the elder brother of Yash. Although he is a talented dancer he does not want to participate in Shake It Up because he wants to make girlfriends. He has a crush with Riya. He has also saved Yash and Neel many times. He is a very cool guy. He is the equivalent of Ty Blue, portrayed by Roshon Fegan.

Dheeraj Dambole

It is played by Alam Khan. He is the friend of Neel, Ayush, Yash and Jay. He is the one who sent Yash and Neel to Shake It Up. He is said to have an inside-track to almost everything. Dheeraj is best friends with Jay and is Dina's boyfriend. He often babysits Ayush with Jay's help. He and Jay are almost always seen together. He always loses bets with Manjot and ends up giving his clothes. He is the equivalent of Deuce Martinez, portrayed by Adam Irigoyen.

Manjot "Jo" Dhillon

It is played by Ayush Narang. He is the twin brother of Mandeep. He is the foolish character of the series. He likes to wear shiny clothes. He wins some bets with Dheeraj and takes his clothes for his pets. He has a dialogue o ji my self Manjyot Pyar se Jo. He is the equivalent of Gunther Hessenheffer, portrayed by Kenton Duty.

Mandeep "Di" Dhillon

It is played by Riddhi Arora. She is the twin sister of Manjot. She has similar habits like her brother. She has a dialogue And My Self Mandeep pyar se di and both twins say And ourself the Judwaa Jodi. She is the equivalent of Tinka Hessenheffer, portrayed by Caroline Sunshine.

Shekhar Grover

It is played by Akshat Saluja. He is the host of Shake It Up. He is also the judge of the show and chooses the one who has akal and shakal means mind and face and if anything is missing he doesn't choose. He usually says "ye tumhara waham hai" (this is your illusion). He is the equivalent of Gary Wilde, portrayed by R. Brandon Johnson.

Mostly recurring characters

Vishal Buddhiraja

He is a friend of Ayush. He is most intelligent character of the series. He is 5 years old and wants an admission in college. Later he tells that he is preparing for both IIT and MBBS. He was firstly introduced in the episode Add It Up as the Maths Tutor of Neel who later becomes a good friend of Ayush in the end of the episode. His parents always tells him to spend some time with kids of his age. Even Ayush bullies with him. Ayush calls him Champu. He is the equivalent of Henry Dillon, portrayed by Buddy Handleson.

Batliwala Aunty

It is played by Goolshan Mazdiasni. She is a 120-year-old woman. She loves to chit chat with her charitable trust nana nani samiti. She gives work to Dheeraj, Jay and Ayush, in return she gives them money. She is the equivalent of Mrs. Loccasio, portrayed by Renée Taylor.

Dina Shah

It is played by Ayesha Kaduskar. She is the street-smart girlfriend of Dheeraj. She is immensely rich and in the episode Match It Up, it was revealed that her father owns a pizza parlour. She only wants to be a normal girl instead of a rich girl as revealed in Twist It Up. She is like female Dheeraj. She is the equivalent of Dina Garcia, portrayed by Ainsley Bailey.

Promotion

The cast of India's first 3D Dance Film ABCD: Any Body Can Dance with YouTuber Yugvijay and Disney Channel's upcoming buddy comedy series 'Shake It Up' groove to an awesome medley in a special promotional music video which was aired during the first episode of The Suite Life of Karan & Kabir season 2.^[1] The first official promo/trailer was aired in the commercial of first episode of Disney Q Family Mastermind.

Premise

The Series revolves around the misadventures of best friends Neel (Neeladri) Walia and Yash (Yashpal) Mehta, two confident and energetic 13-year olds who are skilled dancers and are on the threshold of taking their steps into the world of professional dancing.

The teenage boys, get their first professional break when they're selected as Dilwale Picchwade (background dancers) on "Shake it Up, Mumbai," a popular TV dance show. Between learning a wide range of new dance styles, navigating the backstage antics at the show, they embark on a rollercoaster ride of balancing their new found independence and popularity with the demands of their school and family responsibilities.Some episode were not telecasted actors like Adhithya Vikram and Yugvijay Tiwari gave their appearance.

Background

The show's original concept was for Disney to create a female buddy comedy, only with a dance aspect. The dance concept is Disney's third original series, after The Famous Jett Jackson and Sonny with a Chance, to use a show-within-a-show format. The series is also the first Disney Channel Original Series since So Random! to have more than six primary contracted cast members at one time.

The show was ordered up as Disney's attempt in its first female buddy show, but with a dance-driven aspect. Initially carrying the working title Dance, Dance Chicago, the original description was described as the journey of two kids on a contemporary American Bandstand-type show. Television producers Chris Thompson, a former writer for Laverne & Shirley and creator of Bosom Buddies and Rob Lotterstein, who had worked on several series including Boy Meets World were assigned to work on the story.

The concept of the show has been noted to be very similar to that of fellow Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, and according to The Sun-Sentinel, Shake It Up is the same approach with dance. Additionally, the show is Disney's third series to have a show-within-a-show after "Silverstone" in The Famous Jett Jackson and "So Random/Mackenzie Falls" in Sonny with a Chance.

See also

• Shake It Up (U.S. TV series)
• Disney Channel India
• Disney Channel India Original Series
• List of programs broadcast by Disney Channel India

References