It’s not easy for a nine-year-old orphan, to survive alone in Naxal affected village with his three-year-old brother. From working as a labourer in a garden to training Big Bollywood biggies like Tiger Shroff, Athiya Shetty, Suraj Pancholi etc in Gymnast and dance, Vikram Swain had come a long way.
Very few people can make it big in the Glamorous world of Bollywood. The struggle is stressful and one needs sheer dedication and a little luck by his side to be successful. Vikram’s story fits into a Bollywood masala story. An orphan whose fighting all odds to makes a successful career in Bollywood.
Struggles all the way
Vikram belongs to a Naxal affected village called Antarigam in Orissa. He and his three-year-old brother were abandoned by their parents when Vikram was just Nine. He grew up working in a garden in the village where he was paid ₹ 14 per day. He could hardly meet both ends. Then after a few years, he left for Surat, Gujarat. He learnt embroidery there and started earning ₹1300 monthly.
On a friend’s suggestion and to make a little more money, he came to Mumbai in 2009. He was unable to find a decent job there. So he started washing cars in South Mumbai, for his survival.
The episode that changed his life
While washing cars, he befriended a driver.This driver used to travel to the famous Juhu area every Sunday. One fine day, Vikram also accompanied his friend to Juhu, famous area in Mumbai as many renowned Bollywood stars reside there. On the beach of Juhu, Vikram came across many children who used to practice gymnastics. He got interested and started practising with them. It became his new hobby and he used to travel every Sunday to Juhu, to practice gymnastics. Even on festivals and other Holidays, his craze for gymnastic made him rush to Juhu beach. This boy was a fast learner and he quickly learnt all the basic skills of gymnastic in a very short period.
Luckily one day, famous Bollywood star Tiger shroff, who was then preparing for his debut film spotted Vikram practising gymnastics. Tiger was impressed by his skills and started practising with him daily. He even offered him a job of his trainer and got him a place to stay at Andheri in Mumbai. Tiger also supported him with money, mobile phone etc.
Flair for Dance
As we know Tiger Shroff is a very good dancer and it is from his influence that Vikram developed a flair for dancing. Due to his gymnastic skills, he easily learnt this art and perfected it. On Tiger’s recommendation, Suraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, made him his dance trainer.
Presently, Vikram is training not only Suraj but also Sayesha Sehgal (Dilip Kumar’s niece) and Athiya Shetty. He is also an active team member in TigerShroff’s dance team and travels globally for events.
Achievements
He is the first man from his village to travel abroad. He is financing his Brother’s MBA degree and had also built his house in his native village.
He works as an assistant dance director with choreographer Ahmed Khan’s team and worked in movies like Hero, All is well and kick. Even actress Shraddha Kapoor and ace Choreographer Ganesh Acharya had mentioned him in many interviews. Vikram is now a role model for many youngsters in his village.
Even though karma has been a factor in the life of Vikram Swain, however, his difficult work can not be disregarded. A huge number of individuals live in Mumbai for their occupation, however, the greater part of them would not show the boldness to do something besides satisfying their needs. Heading out from South Mumbai to Juhu in the packed trains is an extreme assignment. Rehearsing a tiring game like gymnast while at the same time doing all other tough work despite having extremely limited income, isn’t something that anybody can do easily. Vikram Swain is a motivational example to many.
