How about stopping the site visitors by placing on your dancing sneakers? Siblings Santhosh Kumar, a.ok.a Babu Footloosers, 58, and Sajeesh Kumar, 53, did simply that on Manaveeyam Veedhi on a Saturday night. As the dynamic duo broke into some killer strikes, those that handed by halted for some time. Giving them firm have been their two college students, Sajith Viswanathan and Vipin Raveendran.
Think breakdance and Thiruvananthapuram had one handle in the late ‘80s — Footloosers. Even although the dance academy has tailored to the altering occasions, Babu and Sajeesh, the founders are completely satisfied to be beneath the spotlight once more. Thanks to Moonwalk, a film, at the moment streaming on OTT, which breezes by way of the lives of some kids in Thiruvananthapuram who have been enthusiastic about breakdance. The storyline is impressed by a number of real-life individuals and incidents.
“Vinod [Vinod AK, director of Moonwalk] had planned to make a documentary on breakdancers in Kerala initially. Thanks to the work that went into the project, there was a rejuvenation in the community. The current generation has no clue about how we learnt the style and went on to become popular at a time when there was no social media. It felt good to be in the limelight again,” says Babu.
Initial members of Footloosers
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Among the early members of his group was his mates from Government Arts College — Padmakumar BS, Praveen Sadasivan Pillai, Ajith Kumar and Riyas Hussain. Sajeesh, then a college pupil, Sreekumar and Anil Bose joined later. “We got a video cassette on the street dance groups in the US and that was a treasure for us. Since we couldn’t afford a VCR, we were at the mercy of those who had one. We would watch it on repeat mode to learn the steps,” Babu remembers.
They used to observe in an area behind the school. Sajeesh, who joined a non-public school, used to affix them throughout intervals. “We had a tape recorder, and the battery would die off within an hour. We would pool in money to buy new ones!” says Sajeesh.
Thanks to a non-teaching workers at Arts College they bought their first present at Peringamala. “We were known as Crimmers then. The crowd was surprised to see the style and they loved it,” Babu remembers. As curiosity grew he began dance courses at his residence, “charging ₹80 as admission fee and ₹60 as a monthly fee”.
Babu Footloosers a.ok.a Santosh Kumar (left) with Sajeesh Kumar
| Photo Credit:
Nirmal Harindran
They additionally set new developments in vogue. “While my hair was thin and long, Babu chettan’s was curly,” says Sajeesh. Babu provides, “We styled our hair at this salon at Manacaud. I followed cricketer Raman Lamba’s hairstyle. Acid-wash jeans, baggy pants etc were in vogue then. We would flock to Melody at Spencer Junction, the one-off place from where we could buy these and also wore bright, colourful T-shirts with loud designs. In fact, we all loved flaunting our style. Of course, we had so many female fans. Fashion became a passion for us!” says Babu. Both of them dropped out of faculty to focus on dance and dance courses.
Kochi additionally had a vibrant breakdance neighborhood then however their types have been totally different. “While they wore flashy, glittery costumes and a lot of accessories, we opted for the ‘gentlemen’ look — black pants, white shirt, gloves etc. We bought steel studs from Chala market, fixed them on rexin sheets and tied them on our waist and wrists,” Babu says.
Their reputation shot up after a programme at Chengannur. By then the group was named Footloosers, impressed by an English tune, and so they registered it in 1988. “Since my dream was to become a stunt guy in cinema, I knew acrobatics and martial arts. We incorporated those in our dance routines and that gave us an edge over others,” Babu says.
He jokingly provides that since they didn’t know the title of the steps they used codenames. “It was much later that we learnt terms such as mule kick, worm, windmill, crabwalk, swipe, knee spin, neck roll, back flip, air cartwheel etc,” Babu provides. While locking, popping and isolation strikes have been Babu’s speciality, Sajeesh excelled in slides, moonwalk, windmill, waves and so on.
Sajeesh even gained first place at the all-Kerala breakdance competitors held at Kochi. “My father didn’t want me to go because he thought I had no chance in front of experienced dancers. But chettan encouraged me, and asked me to take his bike and go to Kochi,” says Sajeesh. He additionally went on a four-month tour to the UK with the dance group, Attakkalari, in 1997-98. Although Babu fractured his thigh bone whereas attempting a brand new transfer in mid-90s, he was back on stage after a yr and continued to bop until 2000. Sajeesh was energetic until 2010.
Now they or their college students take courses at their studio at Vanchiyoor (at the moment being renovated) and numerous faculties in the metropolis. “We kept getting students who went on to become solid dancers. It is now the fifth and sixth generation that is taking classes. As our work is being discussed now, many of our old students are getting in touch with us,” say the brothers. Among their disciples is Sreejith P Dazzlers who used to come back on his bike from Kochi on weekends for the courses. Footloosers has branches in Kerala and West Asia.
Some of the earlier members of Footloosers
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Babu remembers how he used to stroll round in search of alternatives to carry out. “We just wanted a stage to show what we learnt,” he says. Besides being a choreographer or assistant in over 65 films, Babu additionally acted in small roles. He has additionally turned producer and is awaiting the launch of his first film. He mentions that “there were a few other breakdance troupes during that time such as Spindles by Tom Antony and Boomers by Ajith Nath and Aneesh Nath. Then there was Padmakumar who made a name with his Michael Jackson moves.”
Reflecting on different dancers of the time, he mentions Johnson grasp, who pioneered the scene in Kochi. “I taught at Kalabhavan [in Kochi] upon his invite. Then there is Shelton from Thrissur, who was superlative when it came to robotic acts,” he provides. Nizar grasp from Kottayam was additionally in style then, provides Sajeesh.
In 2023, Babu and Johnson went viral on social media once they carried out at an occasion to felicitate them organised by KL7Gary, a YouTube channel. “We were thrilled with the response. Among those who commented was some of the current popular choreographers and dancers in Bollywood and Hindi reality shows,” Babu remembers.
The duo stresses that the present era doesn’t wish to study pure breakdance. “There is little interest in the style. The focus is now on steps and the rhythm,” Sajeesh says, including, “Our dream is to organise a programme in Thiruvananthapuram specifically for breakdance. We have been planning it for sometime.”
