“I’ve Been Dancing Since 1982.” We Finally Know Who Viral ‘Dancing Uncle’ Is!

The halls of desi Twitter were abuzz yesterday with praises for the Indian uncle. Twitter user Gautam Trivedi’s tweet, a video from a wedding where this uncle’s killer dance moves on Govinda’s ‘Aap ke aa jaane se‘ brought the house down, went viral like wildfire. He was crowned ‘Dancing Uncle’!

Everyone loved him. Everyone wanted to be him and dance like him. Some even compared their friends’ or family’s dancing skills to his. Some called him Govinda’s true successor. But you see, there can be only one Dancing Uncle. And looks like we finally get to know this dancing sensation a little better!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have the pleasure of knowing Sanjeev Shrivastava, a 46-year-old assistant professor of Electronics at a private engineering institute in Bhopal. But to us, he’s Dancing Uncle!

An exclusive by Hindustan Times reveals that Mr. Shrivastava’s viral popularity has been blowing up his phone with calls and messages from his loved ones and strangers alike. Everyone loves him!

But what all his fans would enjoy knowing is that Mr. Shrivastava tried to become a legit dancer in the 80s in his youth!

In fact, his biggest inspiration was his mother, who was a trained dancer herself! He told to HT,

“I have been dancing since 1982. Dance is a god-gifted talent in me. I was inspired by my mother Mohini Devi Shrivastava who has been a classical dancer. I have not got any formal training. I won Madhya Pradesh’s best dancer award three times in the eighties in competitions held in Bhopal.”

And what do you know, his family is a pretty talented one. While wife Anjali seems to appear a little shy to match his steps, his two sons Parv (12) and Aradhya (10) are quite talented like their papa!

The video that we’ve all now seen and enjoyed was shot at Mr. Shrivastava’s brother-in-law’s wedding on May 12. Believably enough though, this isn’t Dancing Uncle’s first rodeo. He’s always been a performer through and through!

“I never thought of uploading videos on my own, though I have performed hundreds of times at umpteen number of places free of cost as part of several dance and theatre groups and also as a special invitee on auspicious occasions in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and several others states.”

The man seems quite surprised and humbled by his fame, and thankful to whoever shot the video.

“I don’t know who he is but I am really grateful to him. I never got such an appreciation before.”

Arre Uncle, even we are thankful to whoever took the video! Otherwise imagine we would’ve been deprived of such an amazing talent! Keep rocking it!