9-year-old dancing star makes his acting debut with short movie
Amritsar, January 22
While most kids of his age spent the previous year, locked inside their homes, glued to screens and dealing with online schooling, 9-year-old Azeez Bassi, a young dancing star from the city, was hooked to dancing like a pro.
At a time when kids had been spending more time in front of screens than off it, Azeez kept his focus on dancing, learning freestyle, Bollywood and other dance genres. Busting a move or two since he was three, according to his mother Priyanka Bassi, Azeez, has been creating dance videos, featured in several music videos and performed at several dance competitions, impressing many and is talent is already known in city circle. Now, the young talented dancer has made a debut in front of camera, with a short film Laado, by city-based filmmaker Harinder Sohal. Sohal has previously helmed several critically acclaimed short films. Shot last year just after the second wave of Covid-19 subsided, Azeez is featured in the film that is based on Award winning children’s writer Kulbir Singh Suri’s story Sajji Baanh (right hand) and talks about issues related gender disparity, migrant crisis and class disparity.
Azeez shares that he was selected because of a dance video that got viral. “I love dancing and I used to create dance videos with my dance teachers and one of such video got me attention of Harinder Sohal sir. He asked me if could act and it just happened,” he says. Laado has been released recently on digital platforms and Azeez has managed to surprise many, including his mother. A student of DAV International, Azeez has previously participated and auditioned for several dance reality shows. His passion for dancing surpasses any physical pain, as he recently suffered a leg injury after a fall and was back in the dancing studio weeks after recovering. While dance remains his first love, acting is something he just agreed to spontaneously and would like to continue now. “I had appeared in some Punjabi music videos because of my dancing skills. Acting in Laado was fun, we had to shoot for two consecutive days for 10 hours straight, amid Covid-19 restrictions and it was a different experience. I would like to continue if I can,” he says.
