By Saurav Mehra Dance India Dance, popularly known as DID, is one of India’s best-known dance reality television shows. The Hindi-language competition brings together dancers from different parts of the country and gives them a platform to perform a wide range of styles, including contemporary, hip-hop, Bollywood, classical, jazz and freestyle.
The show premiered on 30 January 2009 on Zee TV. Contestants generally enter through open auditions and then pass through further selection rounds before reaching the main competition. Dance India Dance also became known for calling its choreographer-judges “Masters”, while Mithun Chakraborty served as the Grand Master through the first six seasons. The main Dance India Dance series has seven regular seasons, while DID Li’l Masters, DID Doubles and DID Super Moms are separate spin-off programmes.
List of Dance India Dance Winners
| Season | Year | Winner | Runner-Up | Host |
| Season 1 | 2009 | Salman Yusuff Khan | Alisha Singh | Jay Bhanushali & Saumya Tandon |
| Season 2 | 2009–10 | Shakti Mohan | Dharmesh Yelande | Jay Bhanushali & Saumya Tandon |
| Season 3 | 2011–12 | Rajasmita Kar | Pradeep Gurung | Jay Bhanushali & Saumya Tandon |
| Season 4 | 2013–14 | Shyam Yadav | Manan Sachdeva | Jay Bhanushali & Ishita Sharma |
| Season 5 | 2015 | Proneeta Swargiary | Nirmal Tamang | Jay Bhanushali |
| Season 6 | 2017–18 | Sanket Gaonkar | Sachin Sharma | Amruta Khanvilkar & Sahil Khattar |
| Season 7 | 2019 | Unreal Crew | I Am Hip-Hop | Karan Wahi |
Dance India Dance Season 1 Winner – Salman Yusuff Khan
The first season of Dance India Dance began on 30 January 2009 and concluded with its grand finale on 30 May 2009. Jay Bhanushali and Saumya Tandon hosted the season, while Geeta Kapoor, Terence Lewis and Remo D’Souza served as the three Masters under Grand Master Mithun Chakraborty.
Salman Yusuff Khan from Remo Ke Rangeelay emerged as the first Dance India Dance winner. Alisha Singh from Terence Ki Toli finished as the runner-up, while Siddhesh Pai and Jai Kumar Nair occupied the next two finalist positions. Salman’s victory established him as the first champion of the original DID series.
Dance India Dance Season 2 Winner – Shakti Mohan
Dance India Dance Season 2 premiered on 18 December 2009 and continued until 23 April 2010. Jay Bhanushali and Saumya Tandon returned as hosts, and the original trio of Remo D’Souza, Terence Lewis and Geeta Kapoor again led their respective teams.
Shakti Mohan from Terence Ki Toli won Season 2. Dharmesh Yelande from Geeta Ki Gang finished as the first runner-up, followed by Punit Pathak and Binny Sharma. Shakti became the first female winner of the main Dance India Dance series.
Dance India Dance Season 3 Winner – Rajasmita Kar
Season 3 started on 24 December 2011 and its finale aired on 21 April 2012. Jay Bhanushali and Saumya Tandon once again handled hosting duties, while Geeta Kapoor, Terence Lewis and Remo D’Souza returned as Masters.
Rajasmita Kar from Geeta Ki Gang won the third season. Pradeep Gurung from Terence Ki Toli was the runner-up. Raghav Juyal, who entered as a wildcard contestant, finished in third place, followed by Sanam Johar and Mohena Singh.
Dance India Dance Season 4 Winner – Shyam Yadav
Season 4 premiered on 26 October 2013 and concluded on 22 February 2014. The season introduced a new group of Masters: Mudassar Khan, Shruti Merchant and Feroz Khan. Jay Bhanushali continued as host and was joined by Ishita Sharma.
Shyam Yadav from Mudassar Ki Mandali won Dance India Dance Season 4. Manan Sachdeva from Shruti Ke Shandar finished as runner-up, while Biki Das and Sumedh Mudgalkar completed the top four.
Dance India Dance Season 5 Winner – Proneeta Swargiary
Dance India Dance Season 5 aired from 27 June 2015 to 10 October 2015. Jay Bhanushali hosted the season, with Mithun Chakraborty continuing as Grand Master. Mudassar Khan, Punit Pathak and Gaiti Siddiqui served as the three Masters.
Proneeta Swargiary from Punit Ke Panthers emerged as the winner. Nirmal Tamang from Gaiti Ke Gangsters finished as runner-up. Sahil Adanaya, Kaushik Mandal and Ashish Vashistha were the other finalists in the top five.
Dance India Dance Season 6 Winner – Sanket Gaonkar
Season 6 premiered on 4 November 2017 and concluded on 18 February 2018. Amruta Khanvilkar and Sahil Khattar hosted the season. Mudassar Khan, Marzi Pestonji and Mini Pradhan took charge as Masters, with Mithun Chakraborty serving as Grand Master.
Sanket Gaonkar from Mini Ke Masterblasters won Season 6. Sachin Sharma from Marzi Ke Mastane finished as the first runner-up, followed by Piyush Gurbhele, Nainika Anasuru and Shivam Wankhede.
Dance India Dance Season 7 Winner – Unreal Crew
The seventh season was titled Dance India Dance: Battle of the Champions. It premiered on 22 June 2019 and concluded on 29 September 2019. Karan Wahi served as the main host, while Dheeraj Dhoopar appeared as presenter for the first episode.
Season 7 changed the earlier Masters-based structure and used a zone-based competition. Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bosco Martis and Raftaar formed the judging panel. Unreal Crew from North Ke Nawabs won the season, while I Am Hip-Hop from South Ke Thalaivas finished as runner-up. Pranshu and Kuldeep, Mukul Gain and Akshay Pal occupied the remaining finalist positions.
Dance India Dance Hosts and Judges Over the Years
Jay Bhanushali has been the presenter most closely associated with the original Dance India Dance series. He co-hosted Seasons 1, 2 and 3 with Saumya Tandon, Season 4 with Ishita Sharma and hosted Season 5 on his own. Season 6 was presented by Amruta Khanvilkar and Sahil Khattar, while Karan Wahi became the main host of Season 7.
The judging structure also changed over time. Geeta Kapoor, Terence Lewis and Remo D’Souza were the Masters for the first three seasons. Seasons 4 to 6 introduced combinations featuring Mudassar Khan, Shruti Merchant, Feroz Khan, Punit Pathak, Gaiti Siddiqui, Marzi Pestonji and Mini Pradhan. Mithun Chakraborty remained the Grand Master through Season 6. Season 7 moved away from that arrangement and featured Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bosco Martis and Raftaar as judges.
Dance India Dance Format
The original format begins with open auditions in major Indian cities. Dancers who impress the Masters move ahead to further audition stages, including the Mega Auditions, where contestants are tested on versatility, stamina, performance quality and their ability to adapt to different dance forms.
Contestants selected for the main competition perform solo, duet and group routines. In the earlier seasons, dancers were divided among teams led by the Masters. Audience voting and the judges’ input played an important role in deciding who advanced and who was eliminated. The show became known for presenting many dance forms on the same stage, from Indian classical styles to contemporary, Bollywood, hip-hop, jazz and other international forms.
Season 7 used a different Battle of the Champions concept, with performers representing zones instead of the traditional three-Master team structure. This allowed both solo performers and crews to compete under a refreshed format.
Dance India Dance Spin-Off Shows
The Dance India Dance franchise has also produced several separate programmes, including DID Li’l Masters, DID Doubles and DID Super Moms. These shows have their own seasons and winners and are not counted as numbered seasons of the original Dance India Dance competition. Therefore, the main Dance India Dance winners list contains seven regular seasons.
Final Words
Dance India Dance played an important role in bringing professional and street dance styles into mainstream Indian television. Salman Yusuff Khan became the first winner in 2009, followed by Shakti Mohan, Rajasmita Kar, Shyam Yadav, Proneeta Swargiary, Sanket Gaonkar and Unreal Crew.
Unreal Crew remains the winner of the latest regular season, Dance India Dance: Battle of the Champions, which concluded in September 2019. The franchise has continued through its spin-off editions, but those programmes maintain separate winner records from the original seven-season series.